Uzumaki Naruto: Alternate Beginnings
by lithuvien
Summary: Summary changed: A world where Naruto dreams of not being the Hokage, but leading a normal life, but with the Akatsuki loose, will that ever be possible? To achieve his dreams, Naruto must find out the answer to one thing - Where did the bijuu come from?
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Nightmares

He walked, holding his sleeve over his mouth to protect himself from the stench of the sewers. Though he showed no signs of panic outwardly, his heart was hammering in his chest. The sewers were not dark, but were illuminated by a red light that seemed to have no source, bathing the place in an eerie glow. It reminded him of blood. Slowly, the light began to intensify which meant that he was getting closer to the place where it originated. His mind screamed at him to run, to flee, but his body would not obey. Slowly, a large hall came in sight. His heart beat increased, the hair on his neck sprang up like a hedgehog's, and his mind screamed one work over and over, _danger_. Then the massive doors came into view, doors without locks, except for the papers stuck on them with intricately drawn kanji on them. Beyond the doors was something, something that drew him here despite the utter terror he felt. Inch by inch he moved towards it, his body and mind fighting each other every step. A flicker of movement caused him to stop. A terrifying howl filled the room, pushing him on his knees. The red light started flickering wildly. The terror increases so much that he felt he was going to die. Just then a massive face came into view. The face had jaws the size of a barn. But that wasn't the most terrifying thing about it. The eyes …… they burned with the same res light that bathed the room and they burned with pure hatred.

Gasping, he woke up clutching his bed sheet. He was drenched with sweat, even on a cool rainy day such as this. On shaky legs he made his way to the bathroom where he splashed water on his face. After having a glass of water, he made his way back to the bedroom. He stood at the window, feeling the cool breeze on his face, calming him down.

He sighed as he glanced at the alarm clock on the table by his bed. 03:00.Another night of sleep ruined. He knew that he wouldn't be able to go to sleep for another hour or so.

Sighing loudly, he climbed on his bed and sank beneath the covers. As he closed his cerulean blue eyes waiting for sleep to overcome him, Uzumaki Naruto pondered the significance of his nightmare, especially since this one never seemed to change.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter – 1: Memories

Naruto drooled as the smell of roasted pheasant wafted down to him. It was a long time since he had had pheasant. He loved pheasant, especially after having fish straight for the past 3 weeks. Pheasants weren't common in Konoha. Unfortunately for this one, it had been spied by a very hungry Naruto. As he happily munched away on the bird, Naruto checked the time to make sure he wouldn't be late for class. The clock read 8:15. Perfect. That left him with enough time to reach the academy on time, especially when he knew all the shortcuts that existed from his house to the academy. Though he was not a stickler for punctuality, today was the Genin examination day. He had failed it twice already and not for the lack of trying. He certainly didn't want to fail a third time. He grinned. With the kind of preparations he had done this time, there was no way he could fail. He could already imagine the looks of shock and chagrin on their faces on having to hand over the forehead protector to the "_demon-brat_". **Demon-brat**! How he had hated that name when he had come to know of it. All the whisperings behind his back, thinking he was clueless, treating him like a carrier of some loathsome disease. Even though he was no longer bothered by that name, he still detested the man responsible for his condition, the Yondaime Hokage. But then again, in a way, his condition was the reason why his stealth skills were without peer.

FLASHBACK

His thoughts went back to the time when he was around six, the day when he was creeping around in the town. Not only did people stare at him like he was some sort of loathsome bug, but he also had had been the target of various kinds of projectiles, mainly dung, rotten eggs and vegetables, sometimes rocks. That day, he had crept around alleys and dark places to reach his favorite spot. Ichiruka's Ramen stand. Even so, he had been spotted a few times and various things had gone flying towards him. Still, considering the number of "bull's eye" attempts, he was quite proud of himself. He had got hit for less than half the usual number. As he neared the Ramen stand, he grinned to himself. Maybe sneaking around did have its advantages.

Naruto felt as if someone had hit him with a hammer. The Ramen stand was closed. This had never happened before. Hell, the shop kept open even on Sundays. The shock of seeing his favorite haunt closed overrode his timidity around strangers. He walked up to a couple of men who were standing near the stand carrying a stack of papers on a clipboard. "Excuse me mister. Can you tell me why the stand is closed today?" Naruto gulped audibly as the men swung their gazes over him, their faces fixed in a leer. "The old man left town, de… kid." Naruto stared at him in shock. He couldn't believe it. The old man had left, permanently. Tears filled his eyes as he ran back to his house, the laughter of those two men filling his ears. By the time he had reached his house, Naruto had calmed down some, but he was still in a bit of daze. The stand was the only place in town where he could be assured of a decent meal, and more importantly, a friendly smile. All of these were gone now. Before he could plunge into another wave of self pity, his stomach rumbled. He then realized a cold hard fact. He would have to hunt for his food. He took of for the forested area of Konoha. As he ran, he wondered what he was going to hunt. He was not weaponless, the Hokage having gifted him a pair of kunai for his 6th birthday. The trouble was deciding what to hunt, as he had no experience in that area. By the time he reached the area, he decided on birds as he liked chicken and chicken was a bird.

After two hours, a raggedly breathing Naruto slumped in front of a tree, realizing that decided the menu was far easier than getting it. He was hungry, but he was also getting panicky. He realized that if he didn't catch something soon, he might starve to death. He didn't wasn't to try out the roots and berries in the forest, as he knew that some of them were quite poisonous and he couldn't tell the difference. As he sat there, feeling some of his weariness slip away, he noticed a small frog hopping away from him. Just then, s green blur shot out and grabbed the frog. Naruto jumped in fright, for that green blur was a snake. Maybe it was his stomach, but for some reason, Naruto became intrigued by what he had seen. Obviously, the frog hadn't noticed the snake. HE hadn't noticed the snake. As he watched the snake closely, he realized that he had failed to notice the snake because it had been lying as still as death. Maybe he could get himself dinner by standing still.

Naruto sighed as he watched the rabbit roasting over the fire. After 3 hours more of trying to catch dinner by "standing still", he had failed to catch a bird. His only consolation was the rabbit who had ventured close enough for him to catch it. The downside was that the rabbit was old, so Naruto wasn't sure if he really had managed to fool the rabbit. But his troubles hadn't vanished with catching it. He had thrown up 6 times while trying to get the "foul smelling innards" out of his meal. Thank the Gods that the old man at the Ramen stand had once shown him how to clean a chicken. The rabbit meat was tough, but for the hungry six year old, it was like a gourmet meal.

END FLASHBACK

As Naruto got ready for class, he wondered for the umpteenth time as to how he could sneak around the Aburame and Inuzuka compounds without getting caught. No matter what he did, he was always noticed. It was only thanks to his years of creeping around has he managed to avoid getting caught. Damn it! His skills had reached a point where he could creep around the Hyuuga manor without anyone noticing him, but had been spotted nearly every time he went to the Aburame and Inuzuka compounds. He knew that the dogs and insects were somehow alerted to his presence. He had tried altering his scent with some chemicals, but all it did was fool them into thinking that another person was creeping around. Oh well! Apart from these two clans, he had managed to sneak around everywhere without getting caught. He had even managed to steal a stash of Icha-Icha that belonged to the Hokage, but he wasn't sure if the old man didn't know the identity of the thief. He was a Hokage after all.

He made his way to the academy via his usual route, sticking to the shadows and back alleys. He couldn't wait for the exam to start. This time he would not fail. The last two times he had failed because of the Buushin jutsu. Not this time. He had spent the last three weeks tailing various students, watching them as they practiced, as their fathers and mothers and others corrected them, gave them various tips and tricks. He now had a whole notebook dedicated just to the Buushin jutsu. As of now, he could create 5 clones.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter – 2: The Test

As he neared the academy, he wiped his grin of his face. He had no friends here, partly because he found it difficult to open up to people after nearly a decade of being treated like a leper by almost everybody, and mostly because most of the children had been told, in no uncertain terms, that they were not to associate with the Uzumaki brat. He slipped into his seat and waited for Iruka sensei to come. He closed his eyes and started to visualize the expressions on everyone's faces when the "dead-last" passed.

He was rudely brought of his reverie by ear-splitting squeals of the girls. He groaned inwardly as he wondered, not for the first time, if he should schedule an appointment to get this hearing tested. The last Uchiha had entered. As usual, the girls had crowded around him He shook his head at their stupidity and also felt a pang of sympathy for Sasuke. His years of experience in hunting had given him an insight into the emotions of creatures, and right now Sasuke radiated annoyance, with a tinge of terror. In the whole class, Sasuke was the only one who had good experience in stealth. You would too, if you were chased by mobs of fan girls and fan boys everyday. Yup, Naruto knew what it felt liked when you were being stalked all the time.

"Everyone to their seats now" roared Iruka as he entered. As the students filtered down to their seats, he wondered if the Hokage still had any S class missions where he would get himself killed. This job was murder, especially with this bunch. Not a single good kunoichi. Even though most of the girls had good scores, he knew that in a real fight, even Shikamaru could wipe out the girls without breaking a sweat. All they cared about was their _Sasuke-kun_. He failed to understand what the big-deal was with Sasuke. He never had any trouble while teaching Neiji's batch. There had been fan girls there also, but very few. His eyes traveled over the class to settle over Naruto. That boy was an enigma. He was even quieter than Shino was. Iruka had never seen him enthusiastic about anything. His demeanor wasn't that of Shikamaru, who was just plain lazy. Something about Naruto seemed to hint that the boy was not showing them everything he knew. His eyes were always wary, as if on the lookout for danger. He couldn't blame him, not after more than a decade of being shunned by the villagers. But right now, he hoped that the boy would pass. The last time he had failed, he Iruka had seen the pain in his eyes, even if his face had remained blank.

"Today, as you all know, is the day of the Genin examinations. This year, we have decided to do away with the theoretical section. Instead, you will be asked to perform 3 techniques. You will be graded on how you perform them. You need to get at least two right to have any chance of passing the exam. As I call out your names, please enter the room there. Any questions do far?" No one spoke. "Right, up first is Saito Kojiro". Saito stood up and followed Iruka to the exam room. When he appeared after 10 minutes, the others knew he had passed, for he now sported the Konoha forehead protector.

Time flew as one student after the other was called. All of them had passed. "Uzumaki Naruto" bellowed Iruka. Wordlessly, Naruto got up and followed him, seemingly oblivious to the snickers of "failure" and "dead-last". When he entered the room, he saw Mizuki sensei sitting on one of the chairs. "Okay Naruto, the first technique will be kawarimi. Use the log over there." Naruto quickly performed the hand seals, and in a puff of smoke, appeared in the corner whereas the log now stood where he had been earlier. Iruka smiled. One down, two to go. "The next will be henge. Transform into me or Mizuki". _Piece of cake_. The next instance, Naruto disappeared and in his place stood an exact replica of Iruka, complete with scars and the dreaded clip-board. "Now for the final test, create 3 clones." Naruto took a deep breath to calm him, and then closed his eyes. He thought back to all he had done to prepare himself for this moment and then flashed through the hand seals. When the smoke cleared, there were 4 Narutos standing there. While he did not know how many points he had scored, he knew from the look on Mizuki's face that he had passed.

Iruka grinned broadly. Naruto had passed!! "Congratulations Naruto!" he said as he enveloped Naruto in a bear hug. "You are now officially a Leaf shinobi. Here is your protector." Naruto finally allowed himself the luxury of a small smile in public as he wrapped the protector around his forehead. As he left the room, he saw that the classroom was empty. Everyone had gone out. Even from here, he could here the cheers and yelling of the students along with their parents. As he stepped out of the building, many stopped and stared at him, the students in disbelief and the parents in anger. The look on the faces was all that Naruto needed to brighten his day even more. He purposely took on an arrogant stride, put his hands in his pocket and started whistling tunelessly as he walked past them, ignoring the baleful stares that most of the adults were giving him. Today, he wouldn't sneak back to his apartment like he always did. Today, he would saunter back, whistling tunelessly, to let the people of Konoha know that Uzumaki Naruto, demon-boy had finally become a Genin.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter – 3: The Teams

Today was the day when the genins would be divided into teams of three. While the teams had not been announced, he had a pretty good idea of who would be in what team. His stealth skills allowed him to observe and pick up interesting bits of information which he normally he would not have access to. For example, he knew that Chouji Akamichi, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino would be on the same team, courtesy of their fathers. He could already hear Ino's screams of anguish at being separated from her beloved Sasuke-kun. Unfortunately, he knew who his team mates would be, the stiff-arsed Uchiha Sasuke and the pink hair shrieking banshee, Haruno Sakura. While he didn't care about Sasuke, he feared for his sanity, not to mention his hearing if he stayed around Sakura for too long. "Maybe I should get a big roll of cotton" he mused.

As he walked towards the academy, he noticed something strange. Normally people would stop and glare at him or whisper nasty things, but today, they hardly seemed to notice him. As he started to piece together the bits of conversation that floated around, his eyebrows rose in surprise. Mizuki had been arrested for trying to steal some scroll. Apparently, it was the forbidden scroll of sealing kept in the Hokage vaults. Well well well. Who would have thought that Mizuki would stoop to thievery? And what was so important about the scroll that led Mizuki to try and steal it? He would definitely have to have a look at it. He wasn't worried getting caught, unless the guards consisted of Aburames and Inuzukas.

All these thoughts vanished as he opened the classroom door. Everyone was already there. Even Iruka was there. "NARUTO!! YOU'RE LATE!!!! " Iruka roared. _Crap_. Naruto smacked himself mentally. He had set out at his usual time, forgetting that walking through the streets would take more time. He mumbled out an apology and went to his seat. Satisfied that all students were here, Iruka spoke.

"Once again, let me congratulate you all for passing the test. From here on, your school life is over. You will be divided into three-man teams, each led by a Jounin instructor. I will now inform you of your respective teams and your instructors."

"Team 1. Saito Kojiro, Miyuki Kurosawa and Hajime Ikari. Your Jounin instructor is Shiranui Genma".

..  
..  
..  
..  
..  
.. 

"Team 7. Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and (_Naruto quickly covered his ears_) Uchiha Sasuke". As predicted there were two very loud screams, a scream of triumph from Sakura and a scream of anguish from Ino. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes. Many of the girls had started glaring at Sakura, but so wrapped up she was in her thoughts of her Sasuke-kun that she didn't notice anything. Iruka sighed as he continued. "Your instructor will be Hatake Kakashi".

"Team 8. Chouji Akamichi, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino. Your Jounin instructor is Sarutobi Asuma". Poor Ino slumped further in her seat. Not only did that big-forehead-girl got to be with Sasuke-kun, she was stuck with the laziest boy in the class and the fattest boy in the class.

"Team 9. Hinata Hyuuga, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba. Your Jounin instructor is Yuhei Kurenai"

"Please stay in your respective seats. Your instructor will be here shortly one by one to collect you all. I wish you all the best for your future". With that, Iruka collected his papers and walked out. Immediately, the class started out in babble. People from the same teams started to bunch up together, all except Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto was thoroughly pissed. Hatake Kakashi was the worst instructor he could have got. He was always late and read perverted books, (_Yes, he knew about the Icha-Icha series from when he had swiped some from the Hokage's collection_). He also knew what no one else on this room knew. Kakashi had the Sharingan. How, he did not know for that was something he had not heard anyone discussing. It was a forgone conclusion that Kakashi would focus solely on Sasuke. At that rate, he would never learn anything! Now, more than ever, he needed to get his hands on the forbidden scroll. It was the only way he could hope to advance.

Haruno Sakura was pissed. They had been waiting for over an hour and still their sensei hadn't shown up. Her attempts to make small talk with Sasuke had failed. As for Naruto, her parents had drilled into her that he was to be avoided, so avoid him she did. So far, it had been easy, for Naruto was sitting, staring at the wall with a frown on his face. She assumed the frown was for Kakashi. Unknown to her, Naruto's mind was working in top gear to make a plan to get to the scroll.

Three hours and no Kakashi! Sakura wanted to scream. Here she was, stuck in the classroom with a boy who was still frowning at the walls, and her crush who refused to talk to her no matter how hard she tried. Just then, the door creaked open and a man wearing a Jounin vest and a mask covering his face entered the room. Just then, Sakura let go of all the frustration that had been building inside her. "YOU"RE LAAAATE!!!!" Naruto was shaken out of his reverie by that scream, whereas Kakashi merely raised his eyebrow. After a quick glance at his "students", Kakashi said "Meet me up on the roof in five minutes". With that, he disappeared with a swirl of leaves.

Kakashi was waiting for them by the time they arrived. "Okay. As you must have guessed, I am your Jounin instructor. We can start of by introducing ourselves. Tell you name, hobbies, likes and dislikes and goals." said Kakashi.

Sakura immediately pounced. "Why don't you start first, sensei?"

Kakashi sighed. "Well. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like umm…… I dislike umm…. my goals are umm……." "_Being the greatest pervert in the world"_, muttered Naruto under his breath. The others fumed. _"We didn't get to know anything other than his name!_" thought Sasuke and Sakura angrily.

Kakashi pointed at Naruto. "Okay Blondie. You first." Shoving aside his displeasure at being called Blondie, Naruto replied, "Uzumaki Naruto. I like birds _(especially the edible variety)_ and gossip _(lots ad lots of gossip)_". Gossip?? Even Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that statement. He could practically count on his hand the number of times Naruto had even opened his mouth in class. Naruto continued, "As for my goals, umm…. I don't have any clear goals as of yet ".

'_Birds and gossip, eh! Not what I __expected',_ thought Kakashi. He then turned to Sakura. "Okay Pinkie, now it's your turn".

Sakura frowned at being called that, but said, "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are…" she turned to Sasuke and blushed. "My dreams are…….." She again turned to Sasuke and this time, she squealed. "I hate Ino pig and bullies" she ended with a huff. Sasuke twitched visibly. Naruto yawned loudly, and Kakashi cringed mentally. _'Dear Gods. A fan girl!! What have I done to deserve this' _were the thoughts running through his head.

He then turned to Sasuke. Without needing to be prompted, Sasuke said," My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have few likes and a lot of dislikes. My goal is to revive my clan and kill a certain man." His voice had grown colder towards the end. '_Soooo cooooooool'_ squealed Inner Sakura. Naruto just yawned again.

Kakashi sighed. "Okay. To determine if you will be genin, I will be giving you a survival test. If you fail, you will be sent back to the academy." He said.

"WHAAAAATT!!!" screamed the three who had been shocked by this announcement. Sakura stammered "B But sensei. We already passed the exam."

Kakashi shook his head. "The exam was to see if you have the potential to be genin. This test will determine if you actually become genin. Just to tell you the facts, only a third of those who passed the academy test will become genin." He paused as the shocked expressions on his students' faces became even more shocked. Even the normally stoic Sasuke and Naruto wore expressions of disbelief. He continued "If you don't want to return to the academy, I suggest you take this test seriously. Come to training ground No. 55 tomorrow at 6:00 A.M sharp." Just as he was about to leave, he turned around and spoke in a sinister voice, "Oh, and don't eat anything in the morning. Otherwise you will throw up". With that, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving three shocked genins behind.

The three quietly trudged back to their homes. Sakura was so shocked that she even forgot to ask Sasuke for a date. Naruto was frowning to himself. He knew that his pitiful store of techniques would not be enough. He wasn't called 'dead-last' purely out of spite, and he knew that. He would get the scroll tonight, he had to. As he walked back to his home, he started formulating a new plan for his nocturnal outing.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter – 4: Survival Test

The next day, the morning stillness surrounding training ground No. 55 was broken by the sound of footfalls. Poor Sakura had gotten up at 4:30 in the morning so that she could reach this place by 5:50. Her eyes were half closed as she shuffled towards the center of the grounds, her feet dragging. Just then she caught sigh of Sasuke coming from the opposite direction. She waved her hand and opened her mouth to greet him, but all she could do was let out a big yawn. They both reached the tree stump in the middle of a clearing and sat down. Sasuke sat alert, keeping a lookout for Kakashi and Naruto. Sakura simply closed her tired eyes as she leaned back into the stump gratefully.

An hour had passed. There was no sign either of Naruto or Kakashi. Poor Sasuke was having a terrible time. Even if he did not show it, he too was tired. His case was not helped by Sakura who yawned nearly once every minute. He was also hungry, having heeded Kakashi and skipped breakfast. Just then, he caught sight of something coming towards them slowly. After a few minutes, he could make out who it was. Naruto. His eyes narrowed as he neared. Naruto was sporting lots of bruises all over and he walked as if each step hurt. Sasuke shook his head. Clearly Naruto had been training all night. Maybe he had realized how pathetic his skills were and had tried to improve them by training all night. He smirked. All that the blond idiot had done was exhaust himself so much that he would fail the test even before it began. What an idiot! A soft snore made him glance over to his right. Sakura had fallen asleep. What a weakling! She couldn't even stay awake. Smirking to himself, Sasuke pushed all thoughts pertaining to his team mates out of his mind. It was obvious that these two had no chance of clearing the test, unless they were blessed with incredible luck. He would be the once to be promoted to genin, which would bring him one more step closer to realizing his dream, Itachi's death.

Sakura was having a nightmare. Someone had tied her up and was pushing plates of roast meat just out of her reach, taunting her repeatedly. She jerked awake, only to smell roast meat. She could even here the crunching of bones. She immediately turned to her left. Her eyes nearly popped out at what she saw. Uzumaki Naruto was happily munching on something. Her gaze then dropped to the ground, where she saw several bones lying. She was about to scream at him when her stomach rumbled. This was too much! Her eyes filled with tears as she jerked herself away from the scene. She hoped Kakashi would fail him for disobeying his orders. As she got up, she noticed that Sasuke was gone, though his pack was still here. Apparently, he must have gone out to scout for Kakashi sensei. Speaking of which, where was that one-eyed Jounin? As she glanced at her watch, she saw that it was nearly 8:00. She cursed under her breath. Kakashi was already late by 2 whole hours!! She felt like screaming! She was tired, hungry, her crush had gone away wandering, leaving her alone with this… this freak who had just finished a whole chicken without any consideration for her feelings, and her sensei had still not shown up.

She saw Sasuke coming towards them with a visible scowl on his face. "Any sign of Kakashi sensei yet, Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura. Sasuke shook his head before plonking on the ground irritably. His scowl deepened further as he noticed the bones that Naruto had scattered on the ground. He had skipped breakfast and was feeling the effects of that act. To top it all, Kakashi had still not shown up. Part of him wanted to go home and forget about the test, but he knew he had to clear it to become a genin. So he sat down in a meditative pose and closed his eyes. He had to be calm when the test started, else he could fail. Anyway, he had nothing else to do till Kakashi came. Belatedly, he wished he had packed some food. He definitely would not lower himself by asking the "dead-last" for help. He just hoped Kakashi got here before he lost all patience.

Naruto just sat there with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep. He was just resting with his eyes closed but ears open. He could already feel much of the aches and bruises slowly dissipating. For once, he was glad that Kakashi was horrendously late for everything. A faint smile played on his lips. Last nights operation had been perfect. He had slipped into the vaults and had quickly located the scroll. But rather than take it out, he had quickly copied a few techniques on the blank scroll that he had. He did not want to take the risk of getting caught with the forbidden scroll. He feared that even the Hokage would not overlook such a transgression. He managed to copy around five techniques before slipping back to his house. Once he got there, he started to go though the techniques to see which one he could learn. In a little while, it had become apparent that _kage-buushin_ was the only technique he could try, given the time constraints, his lack of chakra control and lack of knowledge about elemental techniques. And so, he had practiced all through the night, only pausing to curse the academy teachers for not helping him get the basics right. It was almost 6:00 before he had finally collapsed with exhaustion. After lying there for a few minutes, he had groaned and had got up to shower and change. While Kakashi had a notorious reputation for everything, he wasn't sure if he would be late for something as important as this, not too late anyway. After getting dressed, he had dumped his weapons into his backpack, along with a roast chicken. All the practicing had made him ravenous. If he didn't eat anything, he would faint. Fortunately, on reaching the designated spot, there had been no sign of Kakashi.

Hatake Kakashi was strolling leisurely towards the training grounds. As he reached the spot, his eardrums were nearly shattered by a scream "YOU'RE LAAAATE!!". He sighed loudly as he saw a very, very angry Sakura, who seemed ready to burst with anger, a very pissed of Sasuke, and a yawning Naruto. "Ahh, you see, a black cat had crossed my path and I had to find another path" said Kakashi in an attempt to mollify Sakura. Unfortunately, this got Sakura even angrier. She screamed again, "LIAAAAAR!". Kakashi grinned as he saw both Naruto and Sasuke covering their ears and glaring at him.

Kakashi quickly got out an alarm clock and two bells from his pack. He set the alarm for 12:00 and then turned. "Your task is to take these two bells from me. Whoever takes the bells passes. You have to do it before the alarm goes off." He said. Sakura frowned "But there are three of us and only two bells!" "Exactly!" said Kakashi in a serious voice. "Let me warn you", he continued, "You will not be able to get these bells unless you come at me with everything you have. Your time starts now". No sooner than he uttered these words that the three genins disappeared in a flash.

Naruto ran away from the clearing for a few minutes. When he was satisfied that he had created enough distance between him and the Jounin, he quickly got to work. He created six shadow clones and got them to start laying out an elaborate trap for Kakashi, while keeping a watch for any signs of Kakashi. It would not do for Kakashi to see Naruto perform this technique, for this was certainly not in the academy curriculum and it was definitely not something that a genin could simply figure out on his own, especially one with his skills. He also knew that even if he did use shadow clones against Kakashi for a frontal assault, it would be to no avail. He had heard enough of his abilities to know even a hundred of him would do no good. Instead, he planned to hit him where it hurt him the most.

Sakura crept through the foliage, her gaze darting around for any signs of Sasuke. She figured that if she could team up with Sasuke, the two of them could get the bells, not that Sasuke-kun would need her help of course. He could probably steal the bells from Kakashi-sensei all by himself. '_He is so cool_' she thought to herself, with stars in her eyes. Also, she thought, getting the bells would mean that horrible Naruto character would be sent back, leaving her alone with Sasuke-kun. She really wouldn't have minded any other boy, but her parents had told her too many times that Uzumaki Naruto was trouble and how she should stay away from him for her own safety. She stopped suddenly as the leaves in from of her rustled. Her eyes went wide open as a hail of shuriken sped towards her. She quickly took shelter behind the tree she was standing next to. The next thing she knew, she was dangling in the air with one of her feet tied to a rope. She was so shocked that she simply hung there, arms falling limp. She failed to her the soft chuckle that escaped from the mouth of a certain masked Jounin.

Sasuke had just finished laying _his_ set of traps when Kakashi found him. _Good_, Sasuke thought to himself. Now he wouldn't have to go and lure him here. "Working alone, are we _Sasuke-kun_", drawled Kakashi, hands in his pocket. "Your team mates are down already. Do you believe you can stand alone against me?" he said. Sasuke sneered. "Don't compare me to those weaklings. I am more than enough to take you down". With that, he charged, throwing a kunai at Kakashi. Kakashi dodged it, only to hear the distinct sound of a string snapping. _Shit_, he thought, as he this time he was assaulted by a hail of shuriken. As he jumped to avoid them, he found Sasuke flying straight towards him. As Kakashi blocked his kicks and punches, he couldn't help but be impressed at his level of skill. Sasuke then jumped back and started performing hand seals. As he finished, he saw Kakashi's eyes go wide as he performed his _Katon: Grand Fireball _technique. But when the flames died out, there as no sign of Kakashi anywhere. Panic seized him as he looked all around him to catch him. Just then, he felt the ground beneath his feet rumble. Before he could do anything however, he found himself firmly buried underground, with only his head sticking out. Kakashi laughed at his predicament. "Did you really think that a mere genin could defeat a Jounin _alone_?" he taunted before walking away, hoping that he would get the message.

As Kakashi walked around for a few minutes trying to spot Naruto, he saw a green blur speeding away from him. Kakashi sighed as he followed him. _Another genin trying to lead him into a trap_, he thought. He was proved right when Naruto suddenly stopped and spun to face him. A hail of shuriken flew towards him, as expected. He sighed as he dodged them. His eyes flew wide open as he spotted another set of shuriken flying towards the spot where he was planning to land. As he dodged in mid air, a set of wires flew towards him. _Crap, I didn't think he was this good with traps_ Kakashi cursed mentally. As he was dodging, he failed to Notice Naruto speeding towards him. Kakashi was startled as he felt his hands on him. He quickly twisted and kicked Naruto cleared. As he landed, he checked to see if the bells were still there. Good, they were still with him. Then he frowned. For someone who had just failed to get the bells, Naruto was wearing a big grin on his face. His jaw dropped. That little bugger was not trying for the bells in the first place. He had swiped his Icha-Icha book. For the first time, Kakashi was nervous. The book in Naruto's hand was a limited edition autographed version. His heart nearly stopped as he noticed the small fire burning next to Naruto. He wouldn't... He watched as Naruto raised the book above the fire, and let go. With all other thoughts gone from his mind, Kakashi dashed to save his precious book, ignoring the kunai that flew towards him from both sides. He grunted in pain as one of them hit him just as he reached his book. As he landed, he clutched his book to his chest as if it was his only child. As he glanced down to where his kunai had hit him, he received his next shock. The bells were gone.

A visibly shaken Sakura made slumped down on the ground next to the alarm clock Kakashi had kept. She had managed to free herself from the snare and had tried to make her way back, only to land in another series of smaller snares. One of the snares had dumped a bucket load of bugs in front of her, nearly causing her to faint. She pulled up her knees and laid her head on them. She was tired, bruised and very hungry. She had not even tried to search for Sasuke, so spooked she was from the traps. She knew she had no chance of getting the bells. Kakashi was too good. One part of her hoped that Sasuke got the bells, while another part wished that Sasuke too would fail, so they wouldn't be separated from each other.

As Sasuke reached the center of the training grounds, he relaxed visibly on seeing Sakura there. In the few minutes he had gone up against Kakashi, he knew that he was hopelessly outclassed. He had been thrashed soundly and Kakashi hadn't even been trying. As much as he hated it, he needed help. He had rather been hoping to find Naruto, but he reasoned that Sakura would do. "Sakura", he called out. Sakura jerked her head up to find Sasuke kneeling in front of her. "S... Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here? Did you get the bells?" she asked, hope and disappointment warring within her. Inner Sakura sighed as Sasuke shook his head in the negative. "Listen Sakura. Kakashi is too strong for us. We need to work together to get the bells", said Sasuke. As he was about to tell her his plan, two things happened. Naruto came bursting in through the foliage, and the alarm went off, signaling the end of the test.

Sakura's eyes filled with tears. _I've failed. I am going to be sent back to the academy in disgrace_. She was shook out of her thoughts when something landed in her lap with a tinkle. She gasped as she saw what it was, one of the bells that they were supposed to get. She looked up to see Naruto tossing the other bell in his hands. She nearly fainted. Naruto had managed to get both the bells. Naruto looked at her and said "Since I got two bells, I am giving one to you. That should enable you to pass." Sasuke was clenching his fists and had gone white. Impossible! How could the dead-last manage to get not one, but both the bells!

Just then, Kakashi came strolling towards them. He arched an eyebrow as he looked at them. "Well well! It seems that Naruto has got a bell, and I can only assume that he gave the second bell to you Sakura", he drawled. "Looks like Sasuke fails" Sakura scrambled to her feet and shoved the bell in a surprised Sasuke's hands. "No sensei", she yelled. "Don't fail Sasuke-kun. He is much better then I ever will be. I didn't do anything to get the bell, so I shouldn't be passing anyway", she continued, this time letting her tears fall freely. Her hopes had been shattered. Now she would never be able to be with Sasuke-kun again.

"You all pass".

"What?!" chorused the three genins.

"I said you all pass", repeated .Kakashi, smiling as he took in their confused expressions. "The main purpose of this test was never to see if you get the bells from me or not. Even though Naruto did manage to get it, it was only because I was holding back a lot." The expressions of the three grew even more confused. Kakashi continued, "The real test was to test your teamwork. Sasuke, you realized that you could not defeat me alone so you asked Sakura for help. Naruto, even though you had got both the bells, you gave up one to your team mate. Sakura, you were ready to sacrifice your own chances of becoming a genin to allow Sasuke to advance. Even though it was not what I would call a perfect team effort, it was good enough for starters. As of now, you three are officially genin." He paused as he took stock of their expressions. Sakura was overjoyed, Sasuke was smiling and Naruto looked like he was struggling to keep his emotions in check. Kakashi shrugged,_ must be bursting with joy_, he thought. "We will meet here tomorrow at 7:00 sharp for our first mission. Dismissed." With that, he vanished in a swirl of leaves again.

Naruto then went and gathered his pack before bursting out in gales of laughter. He was still laughing as he walked out of the training grounds. Poor Kakashi had no clue. He had given the bell to Sakura just to needle Sasuke.

Sasuke had fled before Sakura could pester him for dates. He shook his head as he made his way back to the Uchiha compound. He had to find out how Naruto had managed to get the bells. It was fortunate that he had brought himself to ask that annoying girl for help. But, a small part of him was touched that she was willing to sacrifice her position for him. A small smile played on his lips. Maybe one date wouldn't hurt.

Poor Sakura was confused as she walked towards her house. She was overjoyed that she had passed. Not only that, Sasuke-kun had asked her for her help. This could only mean that Sasuke-kun was finally starting to notice her. Wouldn't Ino-pig turn green when she heard of this. But she had been shocked when Naruto had given her a bell. From what her parents had told her, this was completely out of character for him. Either he had changed, or her parents were wrong. It wouldn't be the first time however, seeing as how they were always wrong when it came to picking out clothes for her. She quickly shook her mind clear of such thoughts. Naruto didn't matter. Only Sasuke did.

And so, the three rookie genins went back to their homes, each wrapped in his or her own thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5: Journey to the Wave, Part I

The next few weeks passed by without any noticeable events happening for Team 7, at least for Sasuke and Sakura. The numerous D ranked missions they had done had fused them into a smoothly running team. Well, not as smooth as the other Teams that had passed this year, Kakashi amended silently. Sasuke was still silent and arrogant, though he had stopped sneering at Sakura and Naruto. Sakura still ignored Naruto and completely focused her attentions on Sasuke, but at least she didn't look at Naruto with disgust anymore. And Naruto! He had been the surprise package. He had thought that after getting the bells in the test, he would have started lording over his team mates, but he had remained as silent and unresponsive as ever. He always lost all his sparring matches to Sasuke, but Kakashi had the feeling that the blonde was holding back. He smiled as his gaze wandered to where Sakura was sitting. He had finally convinced her to start training seriously by hinting that Sasuke would want a powerful kunoichi to start his clan with. Even though Sakura still mooned over Sasuke, she had started putting in serious efforts in her training. Her reports had told him that she had excellent chakra control, which she demonstrated by learning the tree climbing exercise in a matter of minutes. The only problem with her was her abysmally low chakra reserves. He was currently helping her overcome that problem. Sasuke lived up to his reputation as a genius by completing his tree climbing exercise in a very short time. Though his chakra control was not as good as Sakura's, he still had good control, which was even more evident by the ease in which he performed high level Katon jutsus. He also had a healthy amount of chakra reserves. His only problem was his arrogance and almost fanatical obsession with Itachi's death. Kakashi knew he would have to steer that boy away from thoughts of Itachi. Kakashi was here not only to teach Sasuke about the Sharingan, but also to make sure that he would not go Itachi's way.

Kakashi sighed as his gaze swept across to Naruto, dozing peacefully under a tree. He did not know what to make of him. Naruto did as he was told, never complaining, but he never seemed enthusiastic about anything. Moreover, he always seemed tired. Kakashi hopes that it his tiredness had nothing to do with the Kyuubi. He wondered how much of Naruto's dead-last status was due to the fact that he was always ignored by others. The trap he had set for him during the test had been something he would have expected from a person with very high levels of intelligence. Too bad Naruto didn't seem to be interested in anything specific for him to be motivated like Sakura. Maybe he could talk to the Hokage. Naruto seemed to open up in the presence of Sarutobi.

At that very moment, Naruto was dozing, feeling extremely tired. Every day, he made lots of clones and send them out to spy on other genin teams. After reaching home, he would disperse them, assimilating their information. He had found about this interesting fact a few days ago, when he had sent out a clone to hunt for food. The trap that the clone had been laying out had misfired and he had got hit by him. Immediately, Naruto had come to know what had happened. After sending out a few more clones here and there and dispelling them at random, he found out that he no longer needed his clones to come back to him and report. When they were dispelled, all information went back to him. Unfortunately, he could not do it with more than ten clones without losing consciousness.

Naruto was careful to "to complete" his tree climbing exercise in five days, instead of a few minutes. No sense in getting Kakashi suspicious.

Sakura sat under a tree, rubbing her sore muscles. She hated to admit it, but she was starting to enjoy the intense training Kakashi was putting her through. Yesterday, she had managed to land a couple of punches on Sasuke, much to the surprise of everybody. Sasuke had nodded after the match instead of ignoring her outright, sending butterflies down her stomach. Kakashi's advice wasn't so bad after all. Now Ino pig stood absolutely no chance now. She looked across the clearing where Kakashi was helping Sasuke practice some Fire jutsus. Sasuke was truly a genius, unlike her blonde team mate, who was absolutely hopeless. The said genin was dozing peacefully under a tree. Honestly, she thought, Naruto could give Shikamaru a run for his money in laziness.

Naruto's eyes shot open as another one of his clones was dispelled, giving him information regarding a whole new chakra control exercise, namely "Water Walking". Well, he would have to practice it in the evening. He closed his eyes again and went back to analyzing the gentle fist style of the Hyuuga. He had even raided the library for information on their bloodlines and their style of fighting, but he had found little to go with. He had dared not sneak into the Hyuuga library for fear of getting caught. Sneaking around their compound was one thing. He was sure that he would be killed instantly if he were caught trespassing. So, from what he had seen Neiji do and heard him explain to his team mates, he would have to work the rest out himself. He had a couple of good charts detailing the position of human tenketsus. If he could grasp the basics of Gentle-Fist technique, he could use it without having to rely on a byakugan.

The next morning found the foursome in the Hokage's office for their next mission. This time, Iruka was with the Hokage, helping him with the mission lists. "Okay", began Iruka brightly, "Your next mission is to baby-sit ..." That is as far as he went, before being cut off by a shrill scream. "NOOOOO!" Startled, he looked up to see a furious Sakura and a very annoyed looking Sasuke. Sakura continued, "No more D ranked missions. Why can't we get a C-ranked for a change? WE have been training really hard. What is the use of all this if we keep doing such stupid jobs?" Sasuke nodded his head to show that he agreed. Kakashi sighed. He had been expecting such a reaction. Not that he could blame them. He turned towards Naruto to see what his reaction was.

Seeing that both Kakashi and the Hokage were looking at him, he grinned and mouthed the words "Icha Icha". Both of them swallowed audibly. Kakashi still had nightmares where he was too slow to save his precious collection from being burnt by Naruto.

"Okay, we'll give you a C-rank mission" the Hokage said. Iruka wheeled towards him in shock. "If Kakashi believes that they are ready" he continued. All Kakashi could do was nod. He didn't want to risk his entire collection. Iruka sighed as he picked out another mission. "This mission is a C-rank mission. Nature: Escort mission. You will be escorting a bridge builder named Tazuna to his home in Wave country". It was just then that Tazuna entered the room.

"Ah, Tazuna-san" greeted Iruka. "This is the team that will be escorting you". Tazuna's gaze swept over the team. He seemed to visibly relax as his gaze fell on Kakashi. Tazuna took a long swig from his hip flask. "We move out tomorrow. I need to hurry back home" were his words as he swept out of the room. Sakura twitched with annoyance at being dismissed so cavalierly. She was jus about to say so when she was interrupted by Kakashi. "Well", he said, "You got your wish. Report at the village gates tomorrow at 7:00 sharp. Pack all essential supplies for about a week or so." With that, he walked out of the office, breathing a sigh of relief. Thanks to the Hokage, his collection was safe, for now. His respect for the Hokage immediately went up by several notches.

Back in the office, the Hokage sighed with relief as Naruto went away, apparently satisfied with this mission. Now his collection was safe. He made up his mind to start looking out for more C-rank missions in case this one went off well.

Naruto sighed as he lay back on the grass, enjoying the magnificent view that could only be found on a cloudless night, away from the village. His chakra control was really improving. This was testified by the fact that it had taken only three hours for him to grasp the water walking exercise, compared to the three days it had taken him to complete the tree climbing exercise. He glanced over to the river where his clones were doing the water walking exercise, but they were trying to walk on the water using only their hands. Naruto had come up with this idea in order to practice releasing chakra from other parts of his body, especially the hands. He grinned. Once he mastered this particular exercise, he could figure out how to do the gentle-fist technique. At least being able to release chakra from his hands would give him some measure of protection against the users of the Gentle Fist Style. A few meters away from him, few more of his clones were going through some basic taijutsu drills he had seen Maito Gai and Rock Lee perform. He returned his gaze back to the starry night sky, and decided that he would sleep here out in the open. He quickly redirected his clones to set up traps and alarms around his camp. Once that was done, he dismissed his clones and went to sleep.

The next morning saw Tazuna and team 7 standing near the village gates. Kakashi was not time, which shocked his students so much that Sakura even tried the genjutsu dispelling technique twice to make sure that it really was Kakashi. After checking their supplies once more, they set of for Wave country. They had to walk as Tazuna, being a civilian would not have been able to keep up with the normal pace of a shinobi. The first few hours were uneventful, with Kakashi again busying himself with his Icha Icha books, Sakura trying to get Sasuke to warm up to her, Tazuna taking swigs from his sake bottle and Naruto plodding along, yawning every few minutes. Poor Naruto was having a hard time keeping awake. _I can't afford to train any more with my shadow clones, at least not till I finish this mission. It is too tiring_, he said to himself.

A slight clinking sound caused them to turn around, only to be greeted by the sight of two masked ninjas wearing metal claws and carrying a spike studded chain bearing down on them. Before they could react, Kakashi was torn to pieces by their attack. Having disposed of the jounin, the two attackers turned their attentions towards the rest. "Sakura, protect our client", Sasuke barked as he charged towards his assailants. Within a few moments, he had destroyed their chain. Just as he did so, one of them was hit in the face by a sake bottle. The ninja immediately dropped to his knees and started retching violently. As the other paused in confusion, Kakashi appeared behind him and knocked him out, then proceeded to knock out the other one also.

Kakashi looked at each of his students in turn. "Sasuke, good job. You should excellent combat skills and a cool head in a dangerous situation." He turned towards Sakura and continued, " Sakura, you also did a good job by trying to cover the client." He then turned towards Naruto. "You did a very good job with what ever you threw on them" he paused, wrinkling his nose in disgust, "What was that anyway?". Naruto shrugged "That was a little something I made up. It contains skunk oil, rotten eggs, decomposed……." He never got to finish his sentence as Sakura and Tazuna started retching violently. Even Sasuke had turned a shade of green. Kakashi chuckled.

After everyone had calmed down, he turned to Tazuna. "I think its time you started speaking the truth. Getting attacked by chuunin class ninjas is definitely not a C rank mission" Kakashi said in a cold voice. Tazuna seemed to deflate under Kakashi's glare.

"Our village is very poor. I am building a bridge which will open up cheaper trade routes to our village. The reason we are poor is because currently the only trade routes are all water based and they are under the control of a thug named Gato. Gato has every reason to not want this bridge to be completed. We would have asked for a B-rank, except that we do not have that kind of money." His voice broke as he reached the last part.

Kakashi shook his head. Of all the things to happen to him, this was one of the worst. Gato was a notorious thug with oodles of money. The next man they sent would probably be a jounin level. He sympathized with Tazuna, but a B-rank mission was out of his team's league. He was about to say so, when Sasuke spoke "Fine, but we expect you to pay the full amount for a B-rank mission once the bridge is completed". Kakashi arched his eyebrows. This was certainly a surprise. He hadn't put down Sasuke as having philanthropic tendencies. His quickly revised his assessment when he saw the gleam in Sasuke's eyes. He was not doing this for Tazuna, he was doing this so that he could test himself. Kakashi shrugged. Maybe this would turn out to be a good outing for Sasuke. Facing high level enemies would probably calm him down. He then turned to the others "What about you", he asked Naruto more than Sakura, knowing that Sakura would follow Sasuke to hell without protesting. Naruto just shrugged, and Sakura nodded vigorously. "Okay Tazuna-san. Looks like you will be getting your escort after all" he said. Tazuna lightened up at that. Within a few minutes, they resumed their trek towards Wave Country, leaving behind the two ninjas they had defeated. One of them was tied up. The other? Well, no one wanted to go near him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6: Journey to the Wave, Part II

The group made camp in a clearing near a waterfall that night. After the two masked ninja, they had not been attacked by anyone. Naruto had been amused by the way Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna gave him a wide berth after that. Obviously, they had not wanted to come near him and his foul smelling concoctions. Naruto had declined the dried ninja rations Kakashi had handed out and instead had caught some fish from the river. This river hosted a species of fish not found in his village. So after catching the fish, he had cooked it, making sure to position his fire in such a way that the smell would reach the Uchiha prick and his fan girl. His efforts were soon rewarded as Sakura quickly excused herself, feigning tiredness, but not before her eyes had gone wide and a small amount of droll had escaped from her mouth. Sasuke did not move, but his nose twitched around madly. After he had finished his dinner, Naruto lay back on the grass, enjoying the cool breeze that was blowing. He gazed wistfully at the river, but knew that he could not practice while the others were around. Sighing, he got up and opened his pack. _Might as well set up some traps_, he thought. After Kakashi had told them a little more about Gato earlier that day, he too had come to the same conclusion as Kakashi. They would be under attack pretty soon.

Kakashi smiled to himself as he watched Naruto set up his traps. The traps would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience for a jounin level ninja, but at least they would give the group ample warning. Getting up, he went over to Naruto to ask him where he was laying his traps so he would not get caught in them. From what he had observed over the past few weeks, Naruto seemed to favor stealth over everything else. Kakashi wondered if Naruto would not have been better of in another team, like team 8. His team was designed to be a direct combat team. While Naruto could prove a difficult adversary in places like forests, he would be a sitting duck on open grounds. Anyway, his stealth skills made him better suited for reconnaissance missions. He definitely would talk to the Hokage. Maybe he could swap Naruto for Chouji, who was built for raw power than stealth. After the traps had been set, he turned his thoughts to his remaining students. Sasuke was doing pretty well, as was expected of him. Sakura too was coming on pretty well, and had increased her chakra reserves by half as much but she lacked greatly in combat department, especially ninjutsu. Seeing as how this mission was turning out, he would have to start giving her instruction on some basic elemental jutsus. Too bad Naruto had such poor chakra control. He knew that the boy had huge chakra reserves. If the team swap request was denied, he would have to find a different way to teach him. The conventional methods seemed to fail when it came to Naruto. He went back to his sleeping bag, Sakura having taken the first watch.

The next morning, they reached a small harbor from where they took a boat to get across. Once across, they had to walk across a forest to reach the village. As they walked through the forest, Kakashi was on full alert. The forest was an ideal place for an ambush and he could expect ninjas who were stronger than the last two. A faint rustle was all the warning he needed as he turned and bore the others to the ground, causing the shuriken aimed at them to sail above them harmlessly. "Hatake Kakashi" said one voice. "The famous copy ninja of Konoha" said another. A third voice spoke "No wonder the demon brothers were defeated". Then a fourth voice intoned "But you will perish here once and for all". Four ninjas emerged from the trees, wearing identical garb and carrying various assortments of weapons. _Crap_, cursed Kakashi. He knew who they were. These four were missing-nins who called themselves the Quadra Butchers: Akira, Kobayashi, Kira and Morita. Individually, they were not much of a problem, but each of them complimented the others flawlessly, thus creating an extremely dangerous team. His only chance was if they split up between him and the genins, which would enable him to take them out one by one. As if reading his thoughts, one of them spoke up "Forget the kids. Let us finish Kakashi first". They charged as Kakashi pulled up his headband to reveal his Sharingan and shouted "They may have backup. Protect Tazuna at all times and do not try to help me".

As Kakashi clashed with the missing-nins, Naruto knew they were in trouble. These guys were obviously better than the ones they had encountered before. Naruto was in a quandary. _I can't use my potions in case Kakashi gets hit too. If I rush in to fight, Kakashi will only get distracted. Gaaaahhhh! What to do?_ Such were Naruto's thoughts as he frantically tried to rack his brains for a solution. It then hit him._ I can't take them on, but my traps can. The least I can do is break them up to give Kakashi some openings._ With that, he quickly slipped away into the trees. Once he was out of sight, he preformed the familiar hand seals "Kage Buushin no Jutsu". Around 50 Narutos poofed into existence. Each of them immediately dispersed to his allocated task. As they feverishly labored to set up the network of traps, all of them had just one single thought running through their heads _I'm so dead if Kakashi dies_, for he knew that Kakashi was their only hope of survival.

Meanwhile, Sakura and Sasuke had taken up defensive positions around Tazuna. Sakura was visibly trembling as she watched Kakashi go all out just to keep himself alive. The Quadra Butchers had excellent team-work, giving their opponents absolutely no openings. Sasuke too was trembling, but with rage. _ How does Kakashi possess a Sharingan? He is not an Uchiha. Is a bastard? Did he steal it form somebody? Why hasn't he told me about it?_ Neither of them had noticed the absence of Naruto.

Kakashi was panting heavily. The Butchers certainly lived up to their reputation. While they had not been able to touch him, he was growing tired from the strain of using his Sharingan to keep up. He shook his head as he dodged another blow. He would have to end this soon, before he ran out of energy. Just then, he heard Naruto shout "Kakashi sensei, duck" He threw himself flat without hesitation as a hail of shuriken sped by him. He caught sight of Naruto frantically waving at him. The shuriken storm had forced the Butchers to break of, so he took this opportunity to run, instinctively knowing that Naruto had set up traps and he would fare better without having to face all four together. As he reached the trees, Naruto threw a handful of smoke grenades to give them some cover then signaled Kakashi that he should follow him silently.

Meanwhile, the Quadra Butchers had given chase. They charged ahead, confident that their opponents would not try to ambush them. After all, they had forced the famous Copy Ninja Kakashi to run like a scared rabbit. It was this carelessness that led Kira straight into one of Naruto's traps, a cleverly disguised exploding tag. Muttering an oath, he jumped back, only to land into a spot where another exploding tag set of. That explosion not only knocked the wind out of Kira, but also released a hail of kunai. Kira had dropped to the ground but the other three were forced to jump to avoid them. Too late, they saw that the only "safe spots" had been booby trapped as well, this time, with mines. The resulting explosion flung them away like rag dolls. The explosions were not designed to kill, but rather to incapacitate. The resulting series of explosions had sent Kira's ears ringing. He never noticed Kakashi sneaking up on him till he felt a kunai going through his heart. The next to die was Kobayashi, who failed to dodge a trademark Kakashi Chidori. Seeing their comrades' fall, the other two threw their smoke bombs and vanished. Kakashi cursed loudly. He was low on chakra and had shut of his Sharingan to conserve energy. By the time he activated it again, Akira and Morita were gone.

Sakura's heart soared on seeing Kakashi trudge back to their hiding place. He looked worse for wear, but did not seem to be carrying any wounds, at least not any serious ones. Standing up, Sakura waved at him and was rewarded by what seemed to be a smiling Kakashi (_It's hard to say for sure with that mask on_)"Kakashi sensei, are you all right?" she asked. Kakashi nodded to indicate that he was then sank to the ground in relief. He had not been pushed this far for a long time. _I need to set a training plan for myself. I must be growing soft if I feel tired after such a short battle_, he chided himself. "What happened to those four freaks?" asked Sasuke. "Too are dead, the other two got away" replied Kakashi. Sasuke drew himself up and said "Where did you get the Sharingan? How come you have it only in one eye?" Sasuke's tone was accusatory. Wearily, Kakashi shook his head "Not now Sasuke. We need to get Tazuna to safety first. We can talk later when we are at a safer location" Sasuke glared at him for a few moments, then nodded and turned away. Kakashi got up and signaled the group to move out. "Naruto, you lead the way. That way, we won't fall into one of your traps. By the way, you did a terrific job back there" he said. Naruto grinned and took the lead. "Sasuke, Sakura, keep a watch out for enemies, and what ever you do, do not deviate from Naruto's course. I do not want to be the one to be picking up what's left of you if you accidentally step into his traps" Kakashi warned. Sakura paled as she nodded. Sasuke grimaced and glared at the blonde, who just yawned. For some reason, that seemed to anger Sasuke even more. Tazuna was visibly trembling as he was carried by Kakashi, who had decided that the sooner they reached Tazuna's home, the better.

After nearly four hours without incident, a very tired jounin arrived at the village with his team and client. Tazuna quickly took them to his house. They were greeted by a pretty looking woman by the name of Tsubami, who turned out to be Tazuna's daughter. Seeing that Kakashi was almost on the verge of collapsing, she quickly took him to the guest room and prepared a pallet for him. Kakashi was fast asleep within seconds. Naruto followed suit, having been tired out. "Do you wish for something to eat" asked Tsubami. Sakura nodded eagerly, so did Sasuke, for they were ravenous. The two kids were directed to the washroom where they could get cleaned while Tsubami prepared some food for them.

After having finished his meal, Sasuke walked out alone, and for once, Sakura did not feel like following him. She knew what he was feeling, for her thoughts were along similar lines. They had not been of any use during the battle. In fact, it was the dead-last Naruto who had turned the tables with his clever traps. A part of her hated Naruto for upsetting her Sasuke-kun, another part wondered how an idiot like him could come up with such tactics. Then again, he had done something similar during the bell test as well. Was Naruto really the idiot everyone saw him to be, or was he deliberately hiding his true capabilities? If the former were true, then how would you explain Naruto's behaviour back in the forest? If it were the latter, then why would he disguise his abilities from his team mates? Sakura never once stopped to consider the fact that she had always ignored him and scoffed at him, never considering him to be a part of the team.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was destroying trees with well placed fireballs. He was frustrated that he had not been able to help Kakashi in any way, while that idiot Naruto had. After a few more trees had fallen to his rage however, he calmed down. Naruto hadn't shown any combat skills. All he had done was place traps. That only indicated that he was a good tactician. So what? Nara Shikamaru was considered to be genius of the once-a-century kind, but he wouldn't last more than a minute against Sasuke. Yes. There was nothing to be angry about. Naruto was still dead last. But he promised he would thrash Naruto within an inch of his life in their next sparring match to show everybody how weak Naruto really was. That thought made him feel better as he started walking back to Tazuna's house.

To say Gato was angry would be an understatement. He was furious. First the demon brothers had failed. Now his men had discovered the bodies of two of the Quadra Butchers outside his door and no sign of the other two. The cowards had failed and then fled. He took a gulp of whiskey to calm him down. He could not allow the bridge to be completed. Obviously, that old fool Tazuna had managed to hire some pretty strong ninja. He grinned manically, and then began to laugh. Hearing their boss laugh, the guards rushed in too see if he had lost his mind. "Err... are you all right boss?" one of them asked hesitatingly. Gato rounded on him. "I will be, pretty soon. I've got a job for you." He took out a fat envelope from his desk. "Deliver this to Momochi Zabuza"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7: Journey to the Wave, Part III

The next morning, Kakashi woke up feeling bright and refreshed. He took a long bath, changed and headed down for breakfast. When he reached the dining room, he found that the others were already awake and eating. Sakura smiled as he sat down. "How are you feeling now, Kakashi sensei?" she asked. "Fit as a fiddle" Kakashi replied; glad to see that all his students appeared fine as well. He had been too tired to pay any attention to their states yesterday. "Hmmm … This is delicious." He said as he took a bite of the pancakes. "You really are a good cook, Tsubami san". Tsubami smiled weakly. Kakashi noticed that and put his spoon down. "Is something the matter?" he asked. Tsubami just shook her head. After a minute of awkward silence, Tazuna spoke up "Will you need supplies when you leave today, Kakashi san?" Kakashi understood then what had been worrying the two. Kakashi's mission was only to escort Tazuna to the Wave country. They were free to leave since their mission was over. But, without their protection, Tazuna would be killed by the next man Gato would send. _Well, Sasuke could certainly use the combat experience. Anyway, it would be ridiculous to simply walk away and leave Tazuna to die considering all the trouble we went through to get him here in one piece_, thought Kakashi. "We will be staying here for another week" Kakashi said, causing the others to stare at him, "If it is not a bother to you" he continued. Kakashi was amused to see how Tazuna and Tsubami nearly fell over themselves to tell him that they were welcome to stay for as long as they liked. The rest of the breakfast went quietly. After he finished, Kakashi got up and led his team out to the forests.

"All right team, there is no doubt that Gato will send his best man this time, so we need to be prepared." Kakashi said as he pulled out some tags from his pack. Giving four to each of them, he asked them to attach a tag each to their arms and legs. "Now watch this seal carefully" Kakashi said as he slowly went through a series of hand seals. Immediately, the three felt their hands and legs getting heavy. "The tags I gave you contain the gravity seals. Each tag is now the equivalent of 15 pounds. Unfortunately, this is the maximum that you can go with paper, but it should help you increase your speeds a bit without putting you through the enormous muscle strain that is usually caused by proper weights." said Kakashi. "You will wear them at all times during the day." Sakura spoke up "But aren't weights supposed to be worn at all times?" Kakashi was again impressed by how much Sakura knew. "When you are in a village surrounded by good hospitals and skilled medic nins, yes. But here, you need to deactivate them at night to give your muscles a chance to rest. Even a slight injury here could prove fatal" he said.

"Now, I will teach you how to walk on water." Kakashi said, as he proceeded to do just that, causing Sakura's jaw to drop. "Remember your tree walking exercise where you had to emit a steady amount of chakra to stick to the bark? Well, here you will have to keep on varying that amount as the water surface will keep on shifting. Mastering this exercise will boost your control tremendously." Kakashi paused to see if they got what he had just said. He continued "Sakura and Sasuke will practice here. Naruto, you come with me. You had better start of at a water body with a much calmer surface." As Naruto was led away, he could hear Sasuke and Sakura snigger. He said nothing, just followed Kakashi quietly. Kakashi led him to a small pond which really had a calm surface, unlike the river. "Okay Naruto, practice here. Once you get the hang of it, you can go to the river and practice." Kakashi said as he tossed a scroll to him. "This scroll contains two C-rank lightning jutsus. Once you've completed the water walking exercise, try to master the jutsus. "With that he went of to his own training.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief after Kakashi left. Now he could get down to some serious training. He summoned around twenty shadow clones. First, he set up alarms to warn him if anyone approached. Then he divided his clones into three teams, two of five each and one of ten. To the smaller teams, he gave the task of learning the lightning jutsus given to him by Kakashi. The larger team proceeded to do the water walking, but on their hands. Naruto sat down with a paper and pencil, trying to come up with ideas to make his traps more complex and deadly, but soon gave up, unable to concentrate. What would he do if they were attacked again, this time with no forest for cover? Running away was not an option for he had no doubt that the council would have him executed. He had to fight, but how to do that without holding back?

Back at the river, Sakura had completed the water walking exercise at a very fast speed, but had to stop after a couple of hours due to lack of chakra. She decided to open her scroll and read it. The scroll contained a B-rank lighting jutsu which required precise control. This jutsu did not kill or maim, but disrupted the electrical flow of the nervous system, effectively paralyzing the opponent. For very strong opponents, it would not paralyze, but would throw them off balance long enough to give the user a slight advantage. Kakashi had added a note below it, warning Sakura that a person with her chakra levels could use it only once. Sakura shrugged. Even once was better than nothing. With this powerful jutsu, she would be able to lend a hand next time.

Sasuke's scroll contained the shrunken shadow clone technique. Given Sasuke's deadly marksmanship, it was a very handy technique to know. Kakashi had written below that he had no more elemental techniques which Sasuke could master at this level, so he should concentrate on this and improving his fire techniques. Sasuke grinned. This technique would render most of Naruto's traps obsolete. He could not wait for Gato's thugs to show up. He would not stand by and watch this time. He was an Uchiha, the strongest of all ninjas. _But how had Naruto managed to set up such a large number of traps in such a short time?_ But he shrugged of such thoughts after a moment's reflection and got to work, his targets slowly twisting and taking up a shape, a shape he loathed and hated (and feared), the shape of Uchiha Itachi.

That night, conversation at the dinner table was almost non-existent, with Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke too tired to do anything but eat. For Sakura, even the very act of eating seemed as strenuous as lifting rocks. _Damn my chakra reserves. Why are they so low,_ complained the pink haired girl silently for the hundredth time. Her hands shook slightly as she lifted her chopsticks to her mouth. Her chakra reserves were too low for her to even practice properly. She had been drained after making only three attempts at the new technique. She had attempted it a fourth time, only to faint. She had awakened to see a worried Sasuke staring at her. Apparently, she had been passed out for nearly three hours. She shook her head in exasperation. She was no better of than Naruto. He had the chakra but not the control, and she had the control but not the chakra. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to have both. _What a perfect team we came_, she thought bitterly, _Prodigal genius and the useless duo_._ No wonder he doesn't pay much attention to me. To him, I am as useless as Naruto baka. _A hand at her shoulder jerked her away from her thoughts. She looked up to see Kakashi with a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Sakura, you should get some rest now. We can start afresh tomorrow" he told her. Sakura nodded in gratitude. Sleep would be good. She was too tired to do anything. Even her Inner Sakura was too tired to do anything. Tomorrow morning, she would talk to Kakashi sensei. He would know what to do. Without bothering to even change, she dropped on her bed like a stone, and was fast asleep within seconds.

Naruto was also picking at his food, but it was more due to his distaste for what was given to him as dinner than anything else. Kakashi had found out that his diet included mostly of meat. So, he had proceeded to add "green leafy" vegetables to his diet. _How can anyone eat these things_, Naruto shuddered as he swallowed some more. Halfway through his dinner, his mind went back to his original problem. How would he keep his abilities a secret of he were forced to fight in the open? He was not ready for anyone, except the Hokage, to know how far he had come. It was not as if he had gained incredible powers, but he knew that now was not the time to let people know that he was not the dead-last bungler everyone thought of him to be. No sense in giving people even more reason to feel insecure around him. _Maybe Gato won't send anyone else_. But even as that thought passed through his head, he realized that it was just wishful thinking. They would be attacked, he would have to fight. Hopefully, Kakashi and Sasuke would take care of things. That way, he wouldn't have to fight too hard, and taking care of things would give that stupid Uchiha what he wanted, the feel of his power. His train of thoughts was interrupted by a yawn which came from his mouth. _All that training must have worn me out worse than I thought._ He quickly excused himself and went up to his room. He fell asleep the moment his body hit the futon.

Kakashi lay upon his futon, staring at the ceiling. He had thought long and hard about Naruto and had come to a seemingly impossible but very disturbing conclusion. Naruto knew the shadow clone technique. There was no other way he could have set up all those traps in such a short time back in the forest. There was also the fact that today he seemed to be falling asleep at the table. Water walking was not a strenuous exercise in terms of chakra drain. Shadow clones would explain how he had set up all those traps, why he felt so tired day after day. Taking his observations a step further, he realized that Naruto had learnt the secret of training with shadow clones. That was the most logical explanation for why a boy like Naruto, which such massive chakra reserves, would feel tired every day. How much had Naruto progressed? How much of the Naruto he saw was real and how much was just show? More importantly, where the hell did he learn the kage-buushin technique? It was a jounin level technique, which required large chakra amounts but little control. Kakashi's eyes widened at that thought, and then he relaxed and started chuckling. How fitting a technique for Naruto. Everything seemed to fit so perfectly. Of course, there was still a chance that he was wrong, that there was another explanation for it. He rubbed his temples as he thought _Who ever said that ignorance was bliss certainly knew what he was talking about. Any more of this and I will have to apply for early retirement. I hope Tazuna completes his bridge before the end of this week. I need a vacation_.

Sasuke too, lay awake, thinking about what he had seen back in the forest. He had forgotten about it during the day, so caught up he was in his training. But now, it came flooding back, Kakashi's Sharingan. He gritted his teeth in frustration. He was almost twelve, yet he hadn't been able to awaken his Sharingan yet. _Tomorrow_, he promised himself. _Tomorrow I will wring from Kakashi all the secrets he holds about the Sharingan. If I can bring it out, it will make me more powerful than any technique I can currently master. Of course, once I bring it out, I won't need to master any technique. They will all be mine, as will your heart, brother_.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8: Journey to the Wave, Part IV

Sasuke panted heavily, letting his arms drop to his sides. The scene around him was one of utter destruction. All trees within a 100 meter radius had been shredded to pieces, a testimony to Sasuke's skill with the shuriken shadow clone technique. As he reached inside his pouch for another shuriken, his vision swam. Startled, he put it back and sat down. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he needed to rest or run the risk of fainting and losing consciousness for three hours or more like Sakura had the other day. He cursed his weakness as he sat down under the shade of a tree. Kakashi had managed to disappear before he had awakened, leaving him no opportunity to ask him about the Sharingan. Tsubami had told him that Kakashi had left for some 'training'. Sasuke had been so angered by Kakashi's disappearing act that it had led to the carnage that lay before him. The good thing was that this training session had released all his pent up frustration and anger, allowing him to think clearly. Kakashi hadn't run away. If he was out training, it could only mean that even he was worried about their next opponent. From what he had heard and read about him, that man was elite. If he was worried, the only sensible thing for him to do would be to forget about the Sharingan for the time being and concentrate on his training, at least till this mission was over and they were safely back in their village. He then grinned. Maybe his Sharingan would awaken during his fight with Gato's thugs. He dimly remembered his father telling him something along such lines. He knew Gato would send assassins, strong ones, and he hoped that there would be more than one, so that he could have one all to himself. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the trunk of the tree.

Sasuke's eyes snapped opened. He had fallen asleep. He shook his head in disbelief. How could he have fallen asleep at a time like this? Just then a dog came bounding towards him. His eyes nearly popped open. The dog was wearing a jacket with the Konoha symbol. "Get to the bridge on the double kid. We're expecting company." Sasuke just stared at him slack jawed. The dog growled. "This ain't no time for day-dreaming. Get your butt over to the bridge. Do you understand or am I talking too fast for you?" Sasuke began to recover some of his composure. "Who sent you? What company are we expecting?" he asked, though he already had guessed the answer to the second question. "Kakashi sent me. I am one of his summonses. You can ask him the details later. Just go!" the last part came out as a shout. Before Sasuke could say anything further, it disappeared in a puff of smoke. _Kakashi can summon dogs, eh?_ Sasuke gathered up his pack and raced towards the bridge, popping a soldier pill on his way.

Sasuke reached the bridge to see Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura already there. Apart from them, there was no sign of anyone else. The only strange thing was the thin layer of mist that seemed to blanket the area. Slowly, the mist parted to reveal four figures. Sakura gasped. She recognized two of them as part of the team that had attacked them in the forest. The third seemed to be a boy, or a girl. It was hard to tell because of the porcelain mask the person was wearing. The fourth however, was a figure that turned her insides to ice. She knew who he was. She had seen his picture when she was leafing through Kakashi's copy of the bingo book. He was…

"Momochi Zabuza" said Kakashi calmly, though he was anything but calm. He had not expected the remaining two Quadra Butchers to show up. This was bad. He had to face Zabuza, and hope that his team could fend of the rest. He was not particularly worried about Sasuke, but he was worried about the other two. "Hatake Kakashi" Zabuza's voice cut through his thoughts. Then Zabuza began to laugh, loudly. Once he had calmed down, he unhooked his sword from his back. "Haku", he said to the masked person, "Take care of the Uchiha". He turned to the other two. "You two take care of the other brats" He then turned a crazed eye on Kakashi. "As for Hatake, he is mine." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he charged. Punch met punch, kunai met shuriken, and soon, the bridge was a scene of a pitched battle.

Naruto cursed loudly as he dodged blow after blow from Akira. He couldn't fight back with all his strength here. He had to lure him away. As if reading his thoughts, Akira grinned "Oh no, little man. You are not going to make me walk into one of your traps again. If you run, I'll just turn and gang up on one of your buddies" _Shit, if he gangs up on somebody, it will be over_. He had no choice. Naruto let Akira kick him and used the momentum to create some distance between them. Sighing, he made the hand-seals for the shadow clone technique. In an instant, Akira was surrounded by twenty shadow clones. "Heh! Do you take me for some greenhorn? Using stupid clones wouldn't get you anywhe … oof .…" His breathed whooshed out as he received a solid kick from a clone. His eyes widened as the rest of the clones charged. _Damn. These are shadow clones_, he cursed as he realized. Now Akira was forced on the defensive as the Naruto clone army attacked him with superb coordination. Akira cursed over and over as the clones attacked relentlessly, never giving him an opportunity to attack. Naruto grinned in anticipation as he watched his clones herd Akira into the position he wanted. He had created ten more clones and had ordered them to the position to which Akira was being forced to retreat to. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, Akira was growing desperate and his strokes were getting wilder. Even though he had managed to dispatch about eight, ten still harried him. He wasn't getting any time to do hand seals for any of his techniques. _ I am being pushed around by an orange clad genin. This can't be happening. I am one of the Quadra Butchers. I am one of the best, I am … What the …._ The ground around him exploded as around ten dogs lunged at him, jaws gaping. With the Naruto clone army in front, he was not able to act fast enough and the jaws of the snarling hounds clamped around his hands and feet. _Perfect_, thought Naruto. Akira watched horrified as he was quickly immobilized and rendered weaponless. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he watched the Naruto clones descend on him with shuriken.

Sakura and Morita eyed each other warily. So far Sakura had managed to avoid any serious injuries, receiving only small cuts. In the first few seconds of the fight, Sakura had realized that she was outclassed, but she had fought on, using every ounce of her skill to stay alive. Fortunately for her, this guy was not very fast. She knew she could win if she used her paralysis technique, but she also knew that she had only one shot at it. Morita lunged at her again, aiming for her throat. At the very last moment, he changed his stroke in mid-air and slashed at her chest, butting through cloth and flesh. Sakura cried out as she flipped back. The cut wasn't very deep, but it hurt. Sakura felt a wave of disgust as she watched him lick of the blood of his sword with a maniacal grin on his face. Morita charged at her again. After they broke apart, Sakura was bleeding from two more places. _He's toying with me_, Sakura realized with a chill. She wanted to scream for help, but knew that there would be none. She felt tears running down her eyes as she watched Morita stroll lazily towards her. Morita had the upper hand and he knew it. He grinned. "I lost two of my brothers to your team, bitch. Now I am going to make you pay." He laughed as Sakura limped back, fear evident on her face. "I am going to carve you up, piece by piece. I will enjoy making you scream and beg for mercy" His tirade was cut short as two kunai flew towards him. He contemptuously swung at them, thinking to knock them away. As his sword hit the kunai, they exploded, releasing a stream of foul liquid all over his face. Sakura watched Morita scream and claw at his face, momentarily disoriented. This was her chance. She quickly charged up her technique and attacked. Crazed and half blinded by the attack, Morita saw Sakura charging him. He hastily swung his sword and was rewarded by the feel of steel cutting through flesh, before he felt fire coursing through his body. Morita dropped to the ground and twitched like a fish out of water. _What's happening to me? Why can't I move?_ screamed Morita in his head as he fought to overcome his paralysis. He never saw the kunai that plunged into his neck and ended his life. Exhilaration coursed through Sakura as Morita lay dead. She winced as she pressed her hand to her side to stem the flow of blood. She had purposely not dodged the blow in order to land the strike on Morita. She quickly tore strips from her dress to bind the gash on her side. She smiled weakly. _Naruto_! He had thrown his disgusting concoction at Morita to give her an opening. Her vision started to swim as she fell to her knees, weakened by the battle and the blood loss. _Sasuke-kun, be safe_, were her last thoughts as the floor rose up to meet her, pains and aches forgotten as the blessed darkness swallowed her up.

Sasuke was having the time of his life. His opponent was highly skilled in terms of speed and accuracy, and he had managed to keep up with him without too much effort. Senbon and shuriken flew back and forth at high speeds. Every single punch and kick had been countered, with neither combatant able to land a blow on the other. Due to the recent chakra control training, he was able to move better and faster than he had anticipated, especially with his weights of. Sasuke threw shuriken at Haku. Even as he launched them, he had started the hand seals for his _**Grand Fireball**_technique. Haku threw his senbons to counter his shuriken, then his eyes widened as he saw a huge fireball heading towards him. As he jumped, he found Sasuke in his face. This time, he was too slow to set up his defenses allowing Sasuke to land a powerful punch on his ribs. Even as he was flung back, he saw a barrage of small fireballs screaming towards him. A hail of senbons flew from his hands. The two antagonists eyed each other warily. Sasuke grimaced as he flexed his left arm. A senbon was lodged deep there. He did not want to pull it out for fear of heavy bleeding. Haku was panting heavily. His ribs still hurt from that punch, and one of the fireballs had grazed his leg. He cursed silently. The wound would prevent him from moving at his top speed. _There is no choice then. I must use that technique_, thought Haku as he straightened. As Sasuke got ready to charge, Haku flew through hand seals. In a few heartbeats, Sasuke and Haku were surrounded by gigantic ice mirrors. "What the hell", sputtered Sasuke, faltering in his charge. "You have fought well, but this is the end for you" said Haku as he melted into one of the mirrors. Sasuke could only gape as the image of Haku formed on every mirror. An instant later, a hail of senbon flew towards him. Even as he dodged one volley, another appeared, and another, and soon, Sasuke was dodging senbons left and right, unable to pinpoint their source.

Kakashi and Zabuza both stopped mid-charge to stare at the mirrors of ice that had appeared from nowhere. Zabuza barked out a laugh "Your Uchiha is dead Kakashi. Nothing gets out of Haku's ice mirrors alive." Kakashi's eyes widened. He needed to end this battle soon to help Sasuke. _Hang on, Sasuke_, he prayed as he charged Zabuza again.

Sasuke was in trouble, and he knew that. He had tried all his fire attacks on the mirrors, but to no avail. On top of that, Haku seemed to glide form mirror to mirror at an unbelievable pace. After getting hit a few times, he was now able to see the senbons more clearly, enabling him to dodge them a bit more easily. But he knew that he could not keep this up for long. He was already feeling drained. Sooner or later he would make a mistake and that would end his life. Haku too, noticed this. _Its time to end this and go help Zabuza_. But as he lifted his hand for another strike, a terrific explosion rocked the area.

Kakashi stood over Zabuza's lifeless body, panting heavily. The missing nin was lying with his eyes wide open and vacant, his blood flowing out from the hole in his chest where Kakashi's Chidori had hit him. _I need to get to Sasuke_. As he turned, the bridge beneath his feet shook as a huge explosion went of in the area Sasuke was fighting.

_Shit_. That was the only thought on both Sasuke's and Haku's minds as the section of the bridge beneath their feet started to crumble. Haku's ice mirrors vanished having nothing to stand upon. Sasuke quickly jumped away to an unbroken section of the bridge. As the two landed, Sasuke saw Haku freeze. On following his gaze, he saw the lifeless body of the one called Momochi Zabuza lying at Kakashi's feet. As he turned back to Haku, he saw the senbon falling from his hands. _This is it_, thought Sasuke as he charged. But Haku did not move, not even when Sasuke's kunai speared his heart. With what sounded like a sigh, Haku toppled over, his body falling into the river. Within moments, the river had swallowed him up. He looked up to see Naruto staring at him. "What" he snapped. He felt cheated by this victory, for his opponent had not fought back. "Your eyes …" whispered Naruto. Frowning, Sasuke went over to a puddle of water to see his reflection.

The shock nearly caused him to faint. His eyes had two spirals emerging from his pupil. He had managed to unlock the Sharingan. Exhausted, he fell to his knees, laughing weakly. His father had been right. The battle with Haku had managed to awaken his powers. After a few moments, he turned to Naruto. "What happened to the others?" he asked. "All the enemy ninjas are dead. Sakura took some heavy damage and lost a lot of blood." Naruto replied. As Sasuke stood up, he noticed the dead bodies of the other two. So Sakura had managed to kill her opponent after all, as had Naruto.

A commotion behind him made him turn around. A small rotund man in an expensive looking suit was standing at the far end of the bridge with around thirty or so goons. Sasuke groaned. They did not have the look of ninja, but at this point, they were too tired. "Well, it looks like even the demon of the Mist failed" the rotund one spat. Sasuke guessed him to be Gato. Gato grinned evilly. "All right men, take out these meddling ninjas. ". Sasuke staggered to his feet and took out his remaining two shuriken. _Better make these count, _he thought as he flew through the hand seals for the shuriken shadow clone technique.

"And how are you feeling today, Sakura?" Tsubami asked cheerfully as she drew back the curtains to let the morning sunlight stream in. Sakura smiled as she sat up, her nose twitching at the delicious smells coming from the tray Tsubami had carried in. "I am feeling much better, Tsubami-san." she replied. Tsubami took the tray over to Sakura. "You just enjoy the food and I'll go check up on your friend, and boyfriend" Tsubami winked at that last comment. Sakura slowly ate the food, savoring the taste. After she had finished, she put the tray down and lay back again, gingerly touching her bandaged right side. It did not hurt much now. She smiled as she recalled the look of relief on Sasuke's face when she had regained consciousness. That had been three days ago. After the battle had ended, Kakashi had carried her back to Tazuna's house, where Tsubami had cleaned and dressed her wounds. While she had not been any serious danger, she had been greatly weakened by the loss of blood. Kakashi and Sasuke had both suffered from chakra depletion due to the extensive use of the Sharingan. Since Gato had been killed along with his cronies, the whole village had turned up to help Tazuna finish the bridge. To show their gratitude, the villagers had pampered the four Konoha ninjas in every way possible. They had even signed a deed which stated that they would pay the remainder of the fees within the next six months. Sakura sighed happily as she thought of all that money she would be getting. Kakashi had ranked this as an A-class mission. A knock on her door brought her out of her reveries. The door opened to admit Kakashi. "Good morning, Sakura" Kakashi greeted her. She smiled broadly and chirped "Good morning, Kakashi sensei" Kakashi cocked his head to one side "Since you seem to be so full of energy, I guess today is a good day to set back for Konoha, unless you don't feel up to it yet." Sakura shook her head "I'm fine, sensei. Give me some time to pack and I will be ready to leave." Kakashi smiled beneath the mask "Good. Meet me downstairs in an hour" he said as he left, closing the door softly.

The four ninjas silently glided through the treetops, each lost in his or her thoughts. Sakura was smiling, Kakashi was … well … his face was masked so no one could tell what his expression was. Sasuke's face was stoic as ever, but Sakura thought he looked less tense than before. The aura around him that seemed to shout at everyone to leave him alone seemed to have gone down. _Sasuke-kun must be happy because he finally awakened his Sharingan_, mused Sakura. The only person who looked decidedly unhappy was Naruto. _He must be jealous because Sasuke kun was so good on the battle field_. She smirked and turned her gaze back to the path.

They reached the gates of Konoha after two days. Sakura let out a whoop of joy, so glad was she on returning there. Kakashi turned to face them. "All of you have done a magnificent job on this mission. You have exceeded my expectations with your skills and growth. I am proud of you." Kakashi paused for breath as he took in the beaming faces of his team. "I have to go to the Hokage to give my report. Sasuke, Sakura, you will report to the hospital immediately to get your injuries checked. Naruto, you can come with me since you are in one piece" With that, he grabbed Naruto and vanished in a whirlwind of leaves. Sasuke and Sakura stared at each other, then shrugged and walked towards the hospital.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9: The Chuunin Exams Arrive

Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage, protector of Konoha, sat with his head in his hands, staring balefully at the pile of papers on his desk. How he wished he could do a Katon jutsu on those infernal sheets. Just then, a knock sounded on his door. "Hatake Kakashi here to see you, Hokage sama" came the voice of one of the guards posted outside. He sighed in relief. This would be a welcome break from his paperwork. He called to his guards to let him in. He was surprised to see Naruto in tow. He waved them to the chairs as Kakashi handed him the mission report. He looked up grimly after he had gone through the report. "We will have to do something to verify the authenticity of the mission rankings. We cannot afford to have C-rank missions turning into A-rank missions because the client was stingy. Your team made it back alive. The next team might not be so lucky." Kakashi nodded. They were indeed lucky to come back alive. The Hokage continued with a smile "I will put this mission in your records as an A-rank and will revise your pay accordingly" He was puzzled when Naruto did not smile, but looked at his feet, his face expressionless. Kakashi spoke up "Hokage sama, there is another matter, a matter which I did not put in the report". The Hokage, though puzzled, nodded to indicate that he should continue. "Is it possible for Naruto to be put in a different team?" The Hokage was puzzled. "Please explain, Kakashi. Is there a problem with Naruto?" he asked. Kakashi shook his head as he explained. "Naruto has displayed an amazing level of skill with regards to stealth and setting traps. Someone of his type would be of more use in a team like Asuma's, My team, as you know, was designed for combat. While Naruto is decent at that, he is more than brilliant at stealth, while I believe Chouji Akamichi is not" Sarutobi leaned back into his chair as he tapped his chin. After a minute, he shook his head. "It would not do to change the teams at this point. Whatever team work has been built up would be destroyed. Also, the team which you speak about has Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru on it, and they are very good friends with the Akamichi kid. I don't think they would take to Naruto kindly if he were to replace him. But, I will keep your recommendation in mind for his future." Kakashi nodded in understanding. The three families, Nara, Yamanaka and Akamichi had been friends for nearly three generations.

Once they were outside, Kakashi turned to Naruto. "You can take the day of today and tomorrow. You need the rest, and so do I.." With that, Kakashi turned and walked away. Naruto sighed with relief. So Kakashi hadn't noticed his shadow clones after all. He must have been too busy with his fight. He turned and walked to his house, fully intent on sleeping the day away.

Team seven quickly became famous among the rookies for having completed an A-class mission. Sakura took every opportunity to lord it over Ino and show of her new technique. As a result, the other rookies started pestering their instructors to take them on big missions and teach them cool techniques. After a few days, people spotted Asuma buying a whole carton of aspirins and a whole box of ear plugs. The people thought it strange that all the while he was buying these things, he was cursing Kakashi loudly. Parents had to take a detour due to the foul language that was being used by Asuma. Kurenai had an easier time. Her team members simply turned to their clans to improve themselves, though they insisted on 'practising' their new techniques during their sparring sessions. And so, the days flew by, with the rookie nine training hard day after day, each trying to outdo the other, the exception being none other than Nara Shikamaru.

Six months had passed since the members of Team seven, eight and ten had been promoted to genin. It was a beautiful day, a day full of hopes and promises. A gentle, cool breeze blew through the village. On such a day, the members of Team seven were lazing under a tree. Even Sasuke had decided to enjoy this day rather than train. Their sensei, Hatake Kakashi was late again, but no one minded, so relaxed were they feeling. For a change, Naruto also enjoyed the feel of the weather, instead of worrying about his training. The crunch of boots on grass told them that their lazy teacher was coming at last. As he came in view, the three just waved at him lazily. Kakashi arched his eyebrow, then shrugged. "I have an important announcement to make" he said. No response. "I am nominating you for the chuunin exams that will start next week." Kakashi said, smiling as the three sat up, fully alert now. "Here are your nomination forms. If you plan to take the exam, fill them up and give them to me by the end of the day." As he handed out the forms, he continued "You have shown tremendous growth over the past few months and that is why I am nominating you. Normally, I would have waited for another six months or so, but I think you are more than ready, physically and mentally." He got up, dusting his pants. Sakura beamed at this compliment. She then turned to her team mates to see that Naruto had already started filling out his form. She whipped out her pen and started filling out her form. Kakashi laughed at their enthusiasm. He decided to wait for a few minutes more. It didn't look like his team needed time to think.

Kakashi entered the Hokage's office to find the others waiting for him. Asuma grinned "Hey Ibiki, looks like Kakashi is on time for a change!" Morino Ibiki, head of the interrogators, the master of torture, grinned wolfishly "Then it can't be Kakashi. An hour or two in the dungeons should tell us his true identity" Everyone in that room howled with laughter. A loud clearing of a throat made everyone go silent. The Hokage smiled, "Since everyone is here, we can start. Iruka?" The academy teacher said "As you know, the chuunin exams are about to start. Are there any jounin here who wish to nominate their teams?" Maito Gai stepped up "I would like to nominate my youthful team for this exam" he declared loudly. Kakashi stepped up next "I would like to nominate my team for the exams." Kurenai and Asuma also nominated their teams. Gai turned to Kakashi, frowning "Are you sure about this, Kakashi? These exams are pretty dangerous. I made my team wait for a year before nominating them" Kakashi shook his head "They are ready as they ever can be." Iruka looked like he was about to protest, but a look from the Hokage silenced him. Reluctantly, he put down the teams mentioned as entrants for the chuunin exams. The Hokage then spoke up again "Since there will be lots of genin teams from other countries, our security must be beefed up. Ibiki will be in charge of security and I expect everyone to fully cooperate with me. Is that understood?" Everyone nodded.

Sarutobi got up "Then that is all for today. Dismissed!"

Finally, it was the day of the start of the chuunin exams. Excited and nervous genins filtered to the exam centre. Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura entered the room to see a huge crowd already inside. Sakura gulped audibly. She hadn't realized that so many genin would be taking the test. Some of the genin looked scary, especially one genin, whose headband proclaimed him to be from the village of Sand. The dark rings around his eyes indicated he hadn't slept for days and the look in his eyes reminded her of a crazed animal thirsting for blood. She shuddered and looked away. "Are you ready to lose Sasuke-kun to me, big Forehead Girl?" Sakura whirled around towards the owner of the voice, Yamanaka Ino and then stared. Gone was the Ino she had known during their academy days. The Ino then was as thin as a bamboo shoot, with long blond hair. The Ino before her was … muscular. She had cut her hair short, so that it only reached the base of her neck. The most startling thing was the pair of swords that hung from her back. Ino laughed at Sakura's incredulous expression and turned back to her team mates. _Wow, what happened to Ino?_ Sakura thought.

A loud roar cut across her musings "All right you maggots! Take your places. If I don't see you in your places within one minute, I will personally send you back to your mama in a box!" Everyone stopped talking to see Morino Ibiki standing in the room, with a group of chuunin entering behind him. Everyone rushed to their seats and before you could say jack-a-dandy, everyone was seated. Ibiki grinned wolfishly and looked around the room. "I will be in charge of the first test. Listen carefully for I will not repeat myself. You will each be given a set of questions. Each question will have multiple options, from which you must choose the correct one. These papers have been specially designed. You will all see only the first question. The next question will appear only if you answer the previous one. If you are caught cheating, you will be failed. The chuunins you see around you are here to make sure you don't get caught cheating. Arguments will not be allowed. Their decision is final. If you argue, they have all the freedom to beat you to a pulp before tossing you out of the room. In addition, you must get at least four out of t he ten questions correct to pass. The paper will burn up automatically if you get six question wrong, thus failing you. Remember, this is a team exam, so the whole team fails even if one of the members fails. So keep in mind what your team mates might do to you if you cause them to fail." His grinned widened as he saw several genin turn white. He waited till the papers had been distributed. "You have thirty minutes. Your time starts now".

Sasuke immediately spotted Sakura and activated his Sharingan. _All I have to do is copy Sakura's movements. I would be surprised if she got even one answer wrong_. Neiji and Hinata had activated their Byakugan, using it to see the answers from, Naruto. Naruto was happily marking answers one after the other. Most of the questions were based on tactics, and he felt like a fish in water. He didn't worry about his team mates because he knew that Sakura and Sasuke had brains and would sail through this test. Within fifteen minutes, he had marked all ten answers and the paper hadn't burned up, which meant that he had passed. Grinning, he turned the paper over and lay down his head on the desk, waiting for the thirty minutes to get over. Just around the, Ino swung into action. She simply jumped into Sakura's mind to get the answers, and then jumped back into hers. After she had completed her paper (it took only a minute), she jumped to the minds of Chouji, then Shikamaru and completed their papers. And so, everyone tried to use whatever method he/she could to pass. Some were successful, others were not. At the end of thirty minutes, only twenty teams were left.

Ibiki assigned a chuunin to lead the surviving teams to the next test. Many of the male genin went wide eyed at the figure standing there. The next proctor, Mitarashi Anko, was dressed in a fishnet top and short skirt, which left very little tom imagination. This resulted in a Grass kunoichi bopping her team mate for he had started to drool. Anko grinned. "Twenty teams! This test is sure to cut down the number to less than half" That statement brought the day dreaming shinobi back to reality. "Listen up, you worthless brats" Anko's voice boomed. "The next area for the test is the Forest of Death. There are two sets of scrolls, one is marked with the kanji for 'Heaven' and the other is marked with the kanji for 'Earth'. You will be given any one scroll. The target is to reach the Tower at the end of this forest with both scrolls. Also, if a member of a team is killed, that team is disqualified immediately." Anko looked around and as expected, was greeted with shocked expressions. They had realized that to get the other scroll, they would have to fight the other teams. Anko stepped aside and opened a box full of scrolls sealed in containers, each marked by a number. "Each team will send a member to pick up a scroll. The number indicates the gate through which you will enter the forest." A member from each team nervously went up and took a scroll, though no one opened it. Slowly, the teams dispersed to their respective gates.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10: Chuunin Exams – The Forest Of Death

Once Naruto and his team entered the forest, they took the scroll out of its case to see what type it was. "It's an Earth scroll, so we need a Heaven scroll now" Sakura said. They sat in silence for a few minutes in silence, trying to come up with a plan. Then Naruto cleared his throat to indicate he wished to speak. As the other two turned to him, he said "I have a plan, if you are willing to listen to it". Sasuke and Sakura nodded to tell him to continue. A few months ago, both would have laughed at him for even suggesting that he could think, but after the mission in Wave, they had changed their views about him. They knew now that Naruto did have a brilliant mind when it came to stalking and ambushing, not to mention that they were in a forest, which would give Naruto an edge. Seeing his team mates nod, Naruto continued "I know this forest pretty well since I used to come here quite often to hunt" Sakura raised an eyebrow at that. _Why would he need to hunt? Doesn't he buy food like the rest of us_, she wondered, but said nothing. "I can take us halfway through the forest by the shortest and safest route and then rig up several traps to snare the incoming teams. With any luck, the teams we capture will have the Heaven scroll" Naruto finished. Sasuke nodded in agreement. The plan was simple, yet effective. He had seen enough of Naruto's traps to acknowledge their deadly efficiency. Sasuke got up and said "Fine. You set up the traps when we reach an appropriate location." Turning to Sakura, he asked "How many times can you use the paralyzing technique?" "Several times" she said, starting to understand what their plan was. Sasuke nodded and said"I will be the hare that lures the teams into our traps. Sakura, be ready to take out anyone who manages to dodge our traps." Naruto spoke up "Sasuke, avoid the teams with the Hyuuga. Their Byakugan will warn them of the traps" Sasuke nodded to indicate he understood. Gathering their things, the sped of, with Naruto leading them to the 'ambush' spot.

Yamanaka Ino yelled at the top of her lungs as she charged at the Rain-nin. Within minutes of the start, they had been attacked by a team from the Rain village, who happened to carry an Earth scroll. Since Ino's team had the Heaven scroll, the two teams attacked. Within seconds, Shikamaru had managed to reduce the battle to three separate on-on-one fights, with pairings that he deduced would give his team the advantage. Ino grinned as her opponent stumbled back, blood flowing through numerous cuts that Ino had inflicted. _Shikamaru, you may be the laziest son of a bitch in this world, but when it comes to thinking, you're second to none. _The Rain-nin took out his umbrella and flashed through some hand seals, throwing the umbrella in the air. The Rain-nin grinned "This is the end, Konoha bitch" he said as the umbrella began to spin rapidly, showering the area with hundreds of needles. His grin faltered as Ino brought together the hilts of her swords. With a click, they connected to form a single unit. Then she began to rapidly whirl it around, creating a shield which bounced of all the needles. It was Ino's turn to grin as she watched the horrified look on the Rain-nin's face. Footsteps made her swing around, only to see Chouji and Shikamaru approaching her, with Chouji carrying the limp forms of the other Rain-nin. The remaining ninja's shoulder sagged. His best attack had been deflected and his team mates had been defeated. Sighing, he took out his scroll and tossed it towards Ino, who snatched it in mid-air. After making sure it was the real thing, they left for the tower.

Sakura and Naruto crouched in the undergrowth, hidden not only by the foliage but also by a genjutsu cast by Sakura. Sasuke was only a little further away, keeping a watch out for enemy teams. After some time, Sasuke heard, rather than saw, something massive heading his way. His eyes widened in horror as a gigantic snake tore through the forest straight to where he was sitting. _There aren't supposed to be any snakes here of that size_, he thought as he ran, with the snake right on his tail. He ran towards where Naruto and Sakura were hiding, praying that the noise that the snake was making would have alerted them. He wasn't mistaken as the snake was pierced by multiple spears, killing it instantly. He saw a visibly shaken Sakura and a wide-eyed Naruto coming towards him. "Sasuke-kun, are you all right" Sakura asked. Sasuke could only nod as he returned to stare at the snake. Naruto went over it and poked it a few times. "It's real. But how did it get here?" he said loudly. "This species of snake is not found within a hundred miles of Konoha". Then he stiffened, and whirled around. Seeing his reaction, both Sasuke and Sakura turned to the direction Naruto was now facing. "What's wrong, Naruto?" Sakura asked. "We are being watched" hissed Naruto.

"Ku ku ku ku" a hollow chilling laughter came from the direction Naruto had indicated. "You certainly know your snakes, Naruto-kun" The three felt the hair on their neck stand up. Slowly, a figure began walking towards them. As he came into their view, they saw that it was a Grass-nin. _This can't be right. This snake couldn't have been transported here, which means that it was summoned here. A genin couldn't have summoned such a huge snake. Then …_ His heart sank as he realized who their opponent was. "Orochimaru …" Naruto let out with a whisper. The grass-nin stopped in his tracks, staring at him. After a moment, he threw back his head and laughed uproariously. Then he raised his hand to his face, and to their horror and disgust, peeled of his face to reveal another set of features. _That guy looks like a snake_, both Sakura and Sasuke thought. Indeed, for the ninja in front of them had eyes like a snake, not to mention that abnormally long tongue that was flickering in and out. "Excellent, young Uzumaki. I am indeed Orochimaru". Sakura cringed. His voice … it sounded like a zombie's. "What do you want" barked Sasuke, though he was shaking inwardly. He knew enough about Orochimaru to realize that they were doomed if he planned to kill them. Orochimaru smiled and licked his lips as he turned towards Sasuke "Why, Sasuke-kun. What a question to ask? I want you, of course" Before a stunned Sasuke could react, Orochimaru charged. Sasuke felt all breath leaving his body as Orochimaru kicked him painfully in the ribs. He recovered quickly enough to dodge another blow. A shower of kunai forced the renegade ninja back. "Sasuke, Sakura, over here" Naruto waved frantically. Without a moment's hesitation, the two sped of after Naruto.

Orochimaru watched in amusement as the three fled. "Ku ku ku ku. Do you think that you can escape me so easily?" he chuckled. His eyes widened as a hail of shuriken sped towards him. As he jumped up to avoid getting hit, he saw Naruto sitting in one of the branches with a huge grin on his face. "Wanna bet?" he said cheekily as Orochimaru glared. "Foolish boy" he hissed. "Do you really think you can stop me all by yourself?" Naruto winked as he puffed out of existence. _ A shadow clone_ realized Orochimaru. He cursed as a fresh assault of weapons forced him back. Then before he knew it, another of Naruto's clone started triggering trap after trap, keeping him on the defense, never giving him time to do any hand seals. Then suddenly, it stopped. _Stupid brat, I'm going to tear him limb from limb_. Before he could go anywhere, another ninja arrived. "Orochimaru sama, your presence has been discovered. The Hokage has dispatched four teams of ANBU here" he said. Orochimaru cursed and spat. He had lost his opportunity to get to the Uchiha. He couldn't go after them now with all the ANBU that were after him. He turned his smoldering gaze to the direction where he had last seen them run. "You escaped my clutches this time, Sasuke-kun, but I will have you, sooner or later" With that, the two ninja slowly sank into the ground. Within seconds, no trace of their passing remained.

A few kilometers away, the three genins stopped, panting for breath. "I don't think he is following us" Naruto wheezed, as he sat down, feeling the rush leave his body. The others also sat down, their legs giving away. When no one came after a few minutes, they all visibly relaxed. "Why was that creep after Sasuke-kun?" Sakura wondered. Naruto shook his head "We have bigger things to worry about." As Sakura and Sasuke turned towards him, he continued "We can't lay traps anymore. I am out of materials and I am certainly not going back there to scavenge some". Sakura slumped. So much for their plans. No traps meant that they would have to take on the enemy teams head-on. Sasuke was thinking the same thing. He quickly checked his pouch, and was relived to see that he still had some weapons left. _Of course, not enough to set up a trap, as Naruto said_, he realized bitterly. He looked at his team mates. Naruto was looking winded, but that was expected since he had worked so hard in setting up the traps. So, it was up to mainly Sakura and him to bear the brunt of the fighting. He got up "No sense in worrying about that now. Naruto, take us to the tower. We're sure to run into the other teams there" Naruto nodded as he and Sakura got up. They needed a scroll badly, else they would fail. So, sighing loudly, he led to others towards the Tower.

Sarutobi looked up as the ANBU teams he had sent out returned. "Any leads on Orochimaru?" he asked. They shook there head. One of them spoke up "We cannot locate him, but we are certain that he is no longer in the Forest of Death" Sarutobi frowned, and then asked "Were you able to determine why he is here?" Another one spoke up. "It seems that he was after the Uchiha of the Uzumaki" Sarutobi's eyes widened. That was not good. "Are you certain?" he asked. The ANBU nodded. "We found the remains of Naruto's traps where his trail ended. It seems that the three escaped while Orochimaru was busy with the traps. I believe he escaped because he knew we were coming" Sarutobi groaned inwardly. Anko stepped forward "Hokage sama, should we cancel the test?" Sarutobi shook his head "No. Since he is no longer in the exam area, let it continue. Alert all active jounin ninjas about this incident and ask them to stay on full alert." With that, he dismissed the ANBU

Naruto grinned triumphantly as he retrieved a Heaven scroll from the body of the Rock-nin. They had spotted the team coming towards them and had attacked, or to be more specific, Sasuke had attacked. Two of the ninjas had been dispatched immediately by Sasuke's shuriken shadow clone technique. The remaining had put up an armor of rock, protecting himself from Sasuke's attacks. Unfortunately, it also made him slow and left him wide open for Sakura's attack. Naruto quickly went over to the other two fallen Rick-nins. He turned to his team mates "I think we should move without delay now that we have both the scrolls" Sakura's muscle screamed in protest, but she knew that Naruto was right. They were tired and could rest easier once they had completed this test. Groaning, she set after Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto pushed open the door to the Tower. On entering, they noticed two circles marked with Heaven and Earth Kanji. Sasuke placed the scrolls in their appropriate circles and stepped back. The scrolls glowed and then caught fire. Soon, the runes on the wall began to glow. With a thunderclap, Iruka appeared before the three astonished students. He smiled at them broadly. "Well done. You have cleared the second test" The three smiled at that. _Finally, I need to get some rest_ thought Sakura. As if reading her thoughts, Iruka motioned them towards a room with three beds and chairs. "The test doesn't get over for another three hours. You can rest here till then". Sakura almost ran to the bed, so overcome she was. Naruto and Sasuke followed suit. Iruka smiled as the three fell asleep in seconds, then softly closed the door and left.


	12. Chapter 12

First of all, I wish to thank everyone who has taken out the time to read my story and review it. I now realize that I made a mistake with the team numberings, but to be honest, I have forgotten quite a few things from the anime. That is why I also got the name of Tazuna's daughter wrong. I could only remember that her name starts with a 'Tsu'.

Chapter 11: Chuunin Exams – The Fight before the finals

In all, eight teams had survived, that is, twenty four participants had made it through. That was the reason why the twenty four genins were now assembled in a massive indoor arena. Seated in a corner, were the Hokage and his two advisors. There was also a medic team standing there. Most of the genins were nervous and it showed in the way they fidgeted and whispered among themselves. The Hokage then held up his hand to indicate silence. As the whisperings died down, he cleared his throat as he began to speak "Twenty four participants have survived the second round. For that, I congratulate you. Unfortunately, this high number of pass-outs has also forced us to introduce another round before the finals" Shouts and cries immediately broke out from the assembled group. There had been no mention of this before. The Hokage again raised his hand to quieten the group. "You must understand that the finals will be watched by many important people who will be coming from all over, for this is a good opportunity for them to judge a village's strength. Therefore, we cannot afford to have so many people fighting that day. Therefore, we have introduced this round to reduce the number of participants. Gekko Hayate will explain the rules of this round to you all"

The said jounin stepped up and said "This round will be a one-on-one fight between the participants. Pairs will be picked randomly. The winner gets to advance to the finals. Also, since this is a special round, a participant may drop out without affecting the rest of his team. So before we begin, is there anyone who wishes to discontinue?" No one moved. Hayate waited for a few moments, then walked over to the edge of the ring, directing the participants to the balcony from where they could watch the ongoing fights. At his signal, a large display screen began to flicker, and slowly halted to display two names: Inuzuka Kiba and Uzumaki Naruto. Kiba let out a whoop of delight. "This fight will be over in no time. There is no way that dead last can beat us, is there, Akamaru?" The ninja pup yipped in agreement. In fact, most of the Konoha ninjas were of the same opinion, except for the members of Team seven. _It won't be as easy as you think mutt-boy. Naruto has more tricks than anyone can even imagine, _were Sasuke's thoughts. _Lets see what you do now, Naruto. You cannot use your traps. Show me what you have been hiding_ thought Kakashi. _Naruto, you are not the baka I made you out to be. Even though you are nowhere near as good as Sasuke-kun, I believe you can beat this dog-boy_ Sakura thought. Kiba bounded down the stairs three at a time while Naruto walked sedately. To the surprise of lots of people, Hinata was cheering for Kiba loudly "Beat him to a pulp, Kiba-kun! Show him no mercy!" Sakura turned to stare at her. Was this the same shy, stuttering girl who had passed out with her? Ino caught the look on Sakura's face and grinned knowingly. "Surprised at our Hinata-chan, Forehead?" Ino asked as she walked over to Sakura. Sakura could only nod. "Well, its thanks to your team, or to be more precise, your mission to the Wave" Ino said. At that, Sasuke and Kakashi both turned to Ino, interest evident in their eyes. Seeing Sakura's baffled expression, Ino started to explain. "After you guys came back from the Wave, news quickly leaked as to how you had completed an A-rank mission without getting yourself killed. Not only that, you each managed to take out chuunin-level ninjas all by yourselves. Not to be outdone, we all started training our butts off. Everyone started showing improvements, except Hinata. Kiba apparently overheard Kurenai sensei telling Asuma sensei how Hinata's shyness was holding her back. So, Kiba and Shino tried a few things to help her overcome that problem. At first, they tried encouraging her, but that did not work. Then they decided to rile her up. They figured that if they got her angry enough, she would break free of the shy-girl image she had cast herself into. You won't believe how hard they tried. Hinata suddenly found herself beset by 'accidents'. Her lunch would go missing, some bugs would take a nip even with Shino there, Akamaru 'accidentally' pee'ed on her backpack. But all Hinata did was bow and apologize. Then Kiba did something that did get her goat" Ino paused for effect as she saw the three hanging on her every word. "He kissed her". Sakura's jaw nearly hit the ground. Even Kakashi choked. Kiba had kissed the Hyuuga heiress? He was lucky to be alive. Ino laughed "You should have seen Hinata's face as she was thoroughly kissed by Kiba. She grew as red as a tomato, then delivered a terrific punch to Kiba's midsection. Then she chased Kiba all around the training field, shouting obscenities I didn't even know existed. After she was calmed down by Kurenai sensei who told her exactly why Kiba had kissed her, she realized that the only one holding her back was she herself. So, for the first time in her life, she thanked them all without stuttering or twiddling her fingers, but not before giving Kiba a swift kick in his nuts" Kakashi roared with laughter as Ino finished her narration. Sakura broke out into a fit of giggles, which soon turned into a full blown laughter. Even Sasuke laughed. The image of the rough, dirty and foul mouthed Kiba kissing the Hyuuga heiress was too funny to resist. Their laughter broke of at a horrible screeching noise that set their teeth on the edge. They turned to see that the fight between Naruto and Kiba had already started.

"I'm going to tear you apart, dead-last. You're weak. I'm not even going to need Akamaru to beat you!" Kiba continued to taunt Naruto as he approached the ring. To his annoyance, Naruto showed no signs of being affected by his taunts. Kiba then tried to intimidate him "I'll tell you exactly why you're going to lose. All you can do is set traps. You can't do that here. You suck at ninjutsu and taijutsu. Your genjutsu is non-existent" Akamaru continued to yip in synchronization, as if telling Naruto exactly what he thought of him. Kiba continued "I specialize in taijutsu. My sense of hearing and smell is ten times more powerful than any ordinary human. You can't use smoke bombs to hide yourself. In short you can do nothing!" he finished with a yell. _Only a fool tells an enemy his strengths_, Naruto thought disdainfully. He already knew how to beat Kiba, and he knew how to do it without revealing any of his skills that he had kept hidden.

As he stepped onto the ring, Naruto smiled at Kiba. "Begin" said Hayate, jumping off the ring. Kiba watched as Naruto brought out the small chalkboard which he sometimes used to draw out his plans. Kiba howled with laughter. "What do you plan to do with that, dumb-ass? Do you hope to win by making us faint at your atrocious spellings?" His laughter was cut short as a horrible screeching sound filled the air. The fact that his hearing was so sharp only made it ten times worse. By now, the attention of everyone in the stadium was on the fight. Shino shook his head _You shouldn't have talked so much, Kiba_, he thought as he watched Naruto draw his kunai on the blackboard again and again, eliciting more howls from Akamaru. Unable to take it any more, Kiba flung a bunch of kunai at Naruto. As Naruto jumped to dodge them, Akamaru lunged at his hand, forcing him to drop the blackboard or risk getting his hands bitten off. Kiba was no longer smiling. _That bastard had done that deliberately_! "No more mister nice guy, dead-last!" he snarled. "Me and Akamaru are going to shred you into a million pieces" Kiba threw a soldier pill at Akamaru, who caught it in mid air and swallowed it. Immediately, Akamaru's fur turned red. He went over to Kiba's side, who flashed through some hand seals and yelled "Beast Clone technique!" The smoke cleared to reveal two Kibas. Naruto calmly took out a whistle from his pocket and blew on it. The audience heard nothing, so they were shocked when one of the Kibas fell to the ground howling in pain, while the other had dropped to one knee with his hands clapped to his ears. _A supersonic whistle! Figures Naruto would have one of those since he goes out to hunt so often. Akamaru is as good as finished_ thought Kakashi in wonder as Naruto managed to convert Kiba and Akamaru's strength into a deadly weakness. Naruto charged while blowing on the whistle. Akamaru never had a chance to defend himself as Naruto send him skidding across the room with a powerful kick to the ribs.

Seeing his partner go down, Kiba charged at Naruto, fully intent on ripping him apart. Naruto was caught unprepared by the ferocity and speed of Kiba's assault. He jumped and twisted desperately as Kiba attacked him relentlessly, maddened by what had happened. After a few moments, Kiba drew blood, his claws slicing through Naruto's left arm. As Naruto faltered, he received a thunderous kick that sent him flying. He winced as he slowly got up. He then saw that Akamaru had recovered and was now bearing down on him along with Kiba. _Time for phase 2 of the plan_, Naruto said to himself as he reached into his weapons pouch. _This fight is over_ thought Sasuke as he saw what Naruto had brought out. As Kiba and Akamaru reached Naruto, he smashed the vial he had brought out. A ghastly smell spread through the room, causing people to choke and cover their mouths. _Kiba is sooo dead_, Sakura thought as she covered her face with her handkerchief. Indeed, Akamaru lay on the ground, totally unconscious. The fumes had overloaded his heightened senses, causing him to faint. Kiba was not having any better luck. He was on his hands and knees, gasping and wheezing. Taking advantage of his momentary advantage, Naruto leaped forward and slammed the hilt of his kunai into the base of Kiba's neck. Kiba slid to the ground, unconscious. "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto" came the muffled voice of Hayate, who was covering his mouth his jacket. "Medics, take care of Kiba and his dog, and for God's sake get rid of this revolting stench". Naruto looked up to see his team mates waving at him. He waved back, smiling. He had beat Kiba without having to resort to any of his techniques. _Of course, this was possible only because that fool blabbed all his secrets to me_. Sarutobi smiled and winked at Naruto as he walked back to the balcony. Naruto grinned and winked back.

Within minutes, the arena had been cleared of the fallen combatants and Naruto's fumes. Sighs of relief could be heard as people began to remove whatever they were using to cover their mouths and noses. As Naruto walked towards his team, Kakashi couldn't help think _This boy will easily graduate to chuunin if he keeps this up. Even I couldn't have some up with such a tactic. _He broke of from his thoughts as the display board began to flicker again. "The next match will be between Akamichi Chouji of the Leaf and Tobi Rendo of the Mist" called out Hayate. The two participants went over to the ring. As Hayate signalled them to begin, Rendo started going through hand seals. But before he could complete them, Chouji punched the ground sending shockwaves all around. Rendo, who was already exhausted from the previous test, being one of the last to finish it, was send flying through the air. As he groggily stood up, he was greeted by a huge rolling ball with a face on it.

"Winner, Akamichi Chouji. Medic team, please peel that fellow of the ground". Chouji returned to the balcony amidst whistles and cheers.

And so, the remaining fights ended one after the other. Shikamaru managed to defeat Kin from Sound while Shino wiped the floor with his Sound opponent. The third Sound member, Dozu, managed to win his fight by knocking out his opponent by using a strange sound technique that rendered him unconscious. The Sand team won their matches with brutal efficiency: Temari simply blew Tenten away using a powerful wind attack, Kankurou crushed a Waterfall ninja using his puppets and Gaara crushed his Waterfall ninja using his sand. Poor Sakura went up against Hinata, who quickly shut of her tenketsus and flung her away with a kaiten. What shocked everyone was that after the fight, Hinata turned to Naruto, slowly raised her fist at him and then raise her middle finger, as if to say _you defeated my team mate and I have defeated yours_. Ino went up against Rock Lee and was thrashed soundly, unable to cope up with Lee's speed. Neiji and Sasuke finally won their battles in quick succession.

The winners gathered in front of the Hokage who smiled at them. "You all have qualified for the finals which will be held after exactly four weeks. You can use the time to train further. The finals will also be a tournament system. But understand that winning your battles is not a guarantee for promotion. The judges will be looking at a lot of things besides how many fights you win. So, even if you lose, you could very well become a chuunin" Hayate then went around with a basket of chits, asking the participants to pick one. One by one, they opened their chits and read out the number written on it. Based on the numbering, the final pairings turned out like this:

Neiji VS Naruto

Chouji VS Hinata

Rock Lee VS Gaara

Sasuke VS Dozu

Shino VS Kankuro

Shikamaru VS Temari


	13. Chapter 13

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Thanks again for the reviews. In resonse to some of the queries, yes, Naruto will be displaying some new moves during the finals. Remeber, he has been hiding much of what he knows so no one, not even me, knows what he is truly capable of.  
Also, Kabuto was never in the chuunin exam

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Chapter 12: Chuunin Exams – Preparations for the Finals

Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma and Gai were sitting in Kurenai's living room, sipping sake as they pondered the upcoming finals. The mood was somber. Even Gai was sitting sedately, without his usual "flame of youth" ranting. Kakashi suddenly asked Kurenai "Tell us Kurenai, what do you think about your students' chances in the finals?" Kurenai did not respond immediately, instead took a few more sips from her cup. "Hinata should beat Chouji seeing how she has improved over the past few months." She shook her head as she smiled "Who would have thought that a kiss was all that was needed to bring her out of her shell" The others chuckled at that. Hiashi had personally come to meet Kiba when he was in the hospital (recovering from Hinata's kick to his nether regions). He had thanked him for Hinata's change and also told him that if he touched Hinata again, he would carve him up and feed him to the crows. After he had gone, Kiba had not known whether to be pleased or be terrified. Then Asuma spoke up "I wouldn't be too sure of Hinata's chances. Chouji hasn't been slacking off either." Kurenai smiled "How about a bet then?" Asuma nodded "If my student wins, you'll have to take me to the new restaurant that has opened up in the northern district" Kurenai said with an impish smile. Asuma nearly choked. He knew that place. The food was terrific, but the prices were sky high. A single meal would cost him about a month's worth of pay. The look of dismay on his face sent Kakashi and Gai into peals of laughter. Asuma quickly recovered his composure and said "Fine! But if my student wins, then you'll have to go out with me every Friday night for the next three months." Kurenai merely nodded.

"So Kurenai-san" said Gai, "What about your other student?" Kurenai shook her head "I do not know what this Kankuro fellow is fully capable of. Theoretically, Shino should be at an advantage because his bugs eat up chakra, but …" There was silence for a few more minutes as they sipped their drinks. Kakashi then turned to Asuma "What about Shikamaru? He is up against the Sand kunoichi with the powerful wind attacks." Asuma grinned "Shikamaru can beat her easily, but will probably lose the fight". Seeing their baffled explanations, he explained "Shikamaru is what you could call a super genius. I know his academy scores are poor, but that is simply because he is lazy. I once gave him an IQ test. He score turned out to be in excess of 200" Gai's eyebrows rose so high that they disappeared within his hair. Kakashi whistled "With that kind of brain power, he should make it to chuunin even without winning a single fight!" Asuma only grinned, and then turned to Gai "Tell us about your students."

Gai put down his sake cup and leaned back into the sofa. "I do not know if Lee will win or not, but I do know that he will put everything he has in that fight" Kurenai frowned. Something in Gai's tone indicated that Lee putting everything in his fight did not hold much appeal for him. "What is it, Gai?" she said softly. Gai closed his eyes, then said "You all are aware of Lee's … condition." They nodded. Rock Lee was a special case indeed. He was, in the history of Konoha, the only active shinobi who was unable to use any chakra at all. This meant that ninjutsu and genjutsu were out of his reach, forcing him to rely only on taijutsu. Gai continued "Because of his … limitations, he has been working harder than anything humanly possible ever since I met him. Since he cannot learn any ninjutsu or genjutsu, I began to teach him advanced techniques for taijutsu." Gai fell silent at that point. After a few moments, Kakashi's eyes went wide "You taught him how to open the Gates!" he whispered, horrified. Kurenai and Asuma blanched. Gai could only nod mutely. An awkward silence fell as each struggled with that thought. A genin who knew how to open the Gates! Using the Gates would boost one's power exponentially, but it could also tear the user apart. That is why that technique had been classified. But no one had the heart to tick off Gai for teaching Rock Lee that technique. It was Asuma who finally broke the silence "Then you'll just have to forbid him from using the Gates." Gai shook his head "Against an ordinary opponent, I would have, but that Sand ninja is different. When he fought, I could see that he was someone who enjoys killing. His sand seemed to move on its own. The sand gives him the ability to fight in both long-range and close quarters perfectly. Lee will have to use the Gates or he will have absolutely no chance at all." Well, that was true enough. Kurenai sensed the mood getting depressing and quickly changed the topic. "What about Neiji's chances?" Gai relaxed at that "Technically, Naruto has no chance against someone of Neiji's caliber. But after watching him fight Kiba, I'm not so sure anymore. He is one hell of a sneaky devil. Neiji can win, but only if he treats him seriously. Underestimating him would be very dangerous" Kakashi could only nod in agreement.

Asuma then turned to Kakashi "Your turn". Kakashi sighed "As you said, Naruto is a sneaky devil, so hopefully he can come up with something that will defeat Neiji. As for Sasuke, I plan to train him extensively with the Sharingan and teach him techniques that require the Sharingan to be fully effective." The others nodded. They knew how deadly Chidori was, but they also knew that it left you wide open to attacks, unless you had the Sharingan to warn you of enemy attacks. After a few minutes, Gai frowned "You said you will be training Sasuke. What about Naruto?" Asuma and Kurenai also turned towards Kakashi. Kakashi shook his head. Gai's eyes narrowed "So you will leave your student to fend for himself! That is most reprehensible Kakashi!" Even Kurenai's eyes had narrowed in anger. Kakashi sighed "I will be concentrating on Sasuke because he has what it takes to learn my techniques. I cannot teach Naruto anything in the next few days that would be of help since he is so slow. Anyway, his ability to think out battle plans exceeds my own already." But Gai was not to be placated so easily "How do you think young Uzumaki will feel about this? He will feel betrayed. This could affect the whole of your team in the coming days" Kakashi shook his head stubbornly "He likes to be alone, so he will not mind. Anyway, Sasuke has got a better chance of winning which is why I will be concentrating on him this month" He threw his hands up in surrender "I promise I will make it up to him after the finals" Gai opened his mouth to say something more, but then thought better of it and held his silence.

The conversation then drifted to lighter matters and soon, they drifted into a very relaxed mood, something of a luxury for jounins. At around midnight, Asuma, Gai and Kakashi left for their homes, each wrapped up in his own thoughts.

The next morning found Kakashi at the Hokage's office. He stood patiently while Sarutobi went over the proposal Kakashi had presented him with. "Hmm … According to this you wish to take Sasuke to one of our 'special training areas' to train him in seclusion and you want me to find someone to take over Naruto's training during that time. Did I understand this correctly?" Sarutobi raised his head to stare at Kakashi. Kakashi nodded. Sarutobi continued to stare at him for a couple of minutes, making him nervous, then shook his head. But the look he gave Kakashi clearly said that he did not quite approve of his ditching one of his students to train another. Sarutobi quickly signed the required form giving Kakashi permission to take a genin with him to the designated area and handed it over to him. "As for you … other request, I think I may be able to find someone just right for the job" Sarutobi said as he lit his pipe. Kakashi thanked him and quickly left the building. After he had gone, a voice spoke from the corner of the room "It's a good thing that you're the Hokage. I would have smashed his face if I had been in your place. He doesn't deserve to be an instructor." The figure then went and took a chair near Sarutobi's desk. Sarutobi shook his head "He's not as bad as it seems, Jiraya. I don't think he would have done this had Naruto been a bit more forthcoming about his abilities." Jiraya, the legendary Toad Hermit, arched his eyebrows. Sarutobi chuckled "Naruto is very good at hiding his abilities, but I am equally good at finding out hidden things" Jiraya smiled. "So will you do it, teach Naruto, I mean?" Sarutobi inquired. Jiraya looked doubtful. Sarutobi sighed "Look Jiraya, he may not seem much, but Naruto is much better than everyone thinks him to be." He then proceeded to tell him how Naruto had sneaked into the vaults and copied down some techniques from the forbidden scroll. It was only because Mizuki had attempted to steal it earlier that Sarutobi had out an extra trap which would alert him to any presence with chakra in the room. Then over the next few months, he had spied Naruto making extensive use of his shadow clones to train in various things. As Sarutobi spoke, Jiraya's expression grew more and more interested.

Jiraya nodded as Sarutobi finished his narration. "Very well, I will give it a shot." Sarutobi nodded, relief evident on his ancient face. "By the way, when is Tsunade due to arrive" Jiraya frowned for a moment, then said "She should be here today, unless she stopped to gamble at a casino" Sarutobi smiled. Tsunade's addiction to gambling was as famous as her medical skills. Sadly, her luck was as bad as her medical skills were good, earning her the nickname of "The Legendary Sucker". As Jiraya stood up and got ready to leave, Sarutobi grinned at him "I would advise you to do your 'research' before she arrives in town. You know what she would do to you if she catches you at it" Jiraya simply winked and leaped out of the window. Sarutobi sighed again as Jiraya left. Ever since Orochimaru's presence had been discovered, he had been recalling all ninja that were outside Konoha. Jiraya had arrived last night. Tsunade had been fighting a plague that had broken out in a village near the borders of the Mist. Sarutobi shook his head mournfully. After so many years, all three of his students had come back to Konoha at the same time, but he could take no joy in that, for this reunion would end in death and destruction. Sarutobi quickly dispelled all maudlin thoughts from his head. Orochimaru was still at large and terrorizing the world because he had let him go once before. This time, he would rectify his mistake, he had to.

As Kakashi reached the training grounds, he could see dark clouds on the horizon. _Its going to rain soon_ he thought. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were already there waiting for him. He grinned as he saw that all three were dozing, having been lulled by the cool breeze that had been blowing since morning. Sasuke however, noticed Kakashi and woke the others. Kakashi stopped as he faced them. Suddenly, he didn't know what to say. All the glares he had received from Gai, Kurenai and the Hokage had made him slightly nervous. It was Sakura who broke the silence "I guess you will be teaching Sasuke-kun and Naruto for the next few weeks. At least give me something to train with while you're all gone" Kakashi shook his head "I will be taking Sasuke with me to train". "What about Naruto? Isn't he coming with us?" asked Sasuke. "I do not have the time to train both of you. I have asked the Hokage to assign a trainer to him" Kakashi said slowly, his eyes never leaving Naruto. Naruto simply shrugged and scratched his head. _He took it quite well_ thought Kakashi in relief. He told Sasuke to pack for three weeks and meet him near the Hokage tower, then went away. Sasuke took a long look at Naruto, then shrugged and walked away. After he was gone, Sakura turned to Naruto "Are you okay, Naruto?" Naruto nodded, but for some reason would not meet her gaze. He turned and walked away, a trifle faster than normal. Sakura didn't know what to do. When Kakashi had told Naruto that he wouldn't be teaching him, she had seen Naruto's right hand clench into a fist for a second. She never had been close to Naruto, so she didn't know what to do. As it was, she could only watch him walk away to wherever he was going to.

Naruto was sitting near a lake, his thoughts as stormy and dark as the weather. He was angry at Kakashi, but mostly, he was angry at himself. After the Ramen stand had closed down, he had erected barriers within himself to shrug of the countless slights and insults that he was subjected to daily. The raging anger and hatred had been locked away in chains in a deep place, lest he lose his sanity. But somehow, the barriers had weakened slightly in the past few months. Maybe it had to do with the fact that his team did not treat him like a leper. Naruto shook his head angrily. He should never have let his guard down. Of course Kakashi would opt to train Sasuke alone. Sasuke was the prodigy, the genius, one of the people who were expected to romp through his matches. He was the dead last, good with traps and nothing else, shunned by all. Footsteps brought Naruto back to reality. He turned around to see a man wearing old fashioned clothes and a Konoha head protector approaching him. Naruto looked away. He was in no mood to talk to anyone today. He hoped that whoever the stranger was, he would go away.

His hopes were dashed when the man stopped just next to him. "You're Uzumaki Naruto, aren't you?" he asked. Naruto stood up quickly and turned to face him. "Who are you and what do you want?" _Just as Sarutobi sensei said, he is wary of people_. "I am the legendary toad hermit, Jiraya" he said puffing out his chest. "As for my business, the Hokage asked me to train you for the upcoming finals" Naruto snorted "No thanks. I can manage alone." As he was about to leave, Jiraya said, louder this time "Do you know what you are refusing boy! I am one of the legendary sannin. I am one of the strongest ninjas in the world. I also happen to be the Yondaime's sensei. I can teach you things you wouldn't have dreamt of, things like the Yondaime's techniques …" He trailed of as he saw Naruto standing with his eyes closed. His body was trembling and his hands were at his side clenched into fists. In fact, he had clenched his hands so tightly that a small trickle of blood was leaking from his right hand. Jiraya flinched when Naruto opened his eyes. They shone with naked fury and hate. "Teach me" Naruto spat "What are you going to teach me? Will it be the make-a-kid's-life-hell technique, or get-the-people-to-spit-on-a-person-billion-times technique!" Naruto was shaking with fury now and Jiraya stood speechless in face of the boy's assault. "Why have you come here? Was my life not difficult enough for you, or did you feel the need to give the villagers even more reason to hate me!" By now, Naruto was screaming, all his years of iron-will self control gone. Jiraya only stared in shock, unable to speak. He opened his mouth, but nothing would come out. He took a step towards Naruto, but Naruto stepped back shaking his head "Just stay away from me. All I want is to be left alone. Just stay … stay away …" Naruto's voice cracked as his barriers came crashing down, bringing back all the memories he thought he had banished, all the hurts and sadness he had locked away. Tears ran freely from his eyes. This was too much! How dare this man come up to him and taunt him! His life had been destroyed because of the Yondaime's actions and he was offering to teach him that very man's techniques! Unable to take it more, he ran heedless of where he as going. All he wanted was to get away from this place, away from this man who wanted to ruin his life all over again.

Jiraya stood rooted there, unable to move. The depth of Naruto's anguish and hatred had hit him like a typhoon. Lightning flashed in the now darkened sky as rain began to fall. _Are you crying too Arashi, for what the villagers have done to your legacy?_ Jiraya asked silently, his face towards the heavens where he knew his former pupil now resided. Tears began to roll down Jiraya's face as he stood there in the pouring rain long after Naruto had fled. He felt a hand on his shoulder as someone brought an umbrella over his head, shielding him from the rain's onslaught. "Shhh … everything will turn out fine. Give the boy some time to cool off." A feminine voice softly whispered in his ears. Jiraya raised his tear streaked face to find his team mate, Tsunade standing there, holding the umbrella over him, her eyes full of sympathy. Jiraya started to speak "But …" He was cut of as Tsunade placed a finger on his lips, shaking her head. "We will discuss this later, when you are dry and calm" With that, she steered the distraught Jiraya back to the hotel.

Elsewhere, deep in the forest, a lonely figure screamed his pain to the sky, over and over. After some time, his strength gave out, and he collapsed, tears streaming down his face, his chest heaving. He laid there in the rain, unmoving, the sounds of his weeping lost in the howl of the storm.

In a dark room, a figure stirred. Lidded eyes snapped open, a pair of crimson orbs with vertical slits as black as the blackest night. It hissed in anticipation "The time has finally come" The eyes glowed briefly, then closed.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13: Interview with a Demon

He walked, holding his sleeve over his mouth to protect himself from the stench of the sewers. The sewers were illuminated by a red light that seemed to have no source, bathing the place in an eerie glow. Slowly, a large hall came in sight. But this time, he felt no fear, only a strange curiosity. Then the massive doors came into view, doors without locks, except for the papers stuck on them with intricately drawn kanji on them. Beyond the doors was the object of his curiosity. He peered into what lay beyond and saw a pair of crimson orbs staring back at him. "Kyuubi!" he whispered. There was no response. "You are the Kyuubi, aren't you?" Naruto said again, louder this time.

_**It would appear so human, and quit shouting.**_

_It would appear so_Naruto frowned. "What so you mean by that? Either you are the Kyuubi or you aren't."

_**We have no need for names. Kyuubi is a name given to me by your kind. **_

Somehow, the demon's calm appearance only served to make Naruto angry.

_**I am not to blame for your misfortunes human. Do not seek to cast blame where none lies.**_

"Y … you can read my mind!" Naruto stammered, his anger momentarily forgotten.

The demon chuckled, a loud tumbling that seemed to fill the room. _**I am a part of you, so I know everything that you do or think. Believe me, it is not a pleasant sensation to share the mind of a lesser being.**_ It sighed disconsolately.

Naruto's anger flared again as a response to being called a "lesser being". He was about to give it a piece of his mind when a sudden suspicion struck him. "Why are you sitting there talking to me? I would have thought you would try to rip me apart"

_**I would have done exactly that if such a thing was possible, but the seals that the human put on you prevent me from doing anything. **_

Naruto frowned. "But I remember having nightmares of this place when I was younger. Was that a dream or was it … real?"

_**It was real, but that was a long time ago. Back then, I was still angry and confused over being locked away. How would you feel if you had been in my place and saw your jailor come towards you?**_

There was silence for a long time, with neither party saying anything. It was Naruto who finally broke the silence "Why? Why did you attack Konoha? Why did you allow yourself to get sealed? Why did you have to make my life a living hell?" The last part came out as a whisper.

_**Bah! You humans saddle yourselves with so many useless emotions. That is the reason you are always miserable. You cheat, lie, deceive, stab each other in the back and you give beings like me names like 'demon'.**_

"If you are as blameless as you claim you are, then why did you attack Konoha twelve years ago? Do you know the scale of destruction you caused?" Naruto was furious by now.

_**I was hungry and merely hunting for food. As for the destruction, I was attacked and defended myself. What are you so angry for? Are you not the same?**_

"I am nothing like you." Naruto shouted, his heart hammering.

The demon laughed. _**Come now, do you not hunt animals for food? Does that make you evil? **_

Naruto shook his head "That is different. I hunt animals only when I am hungry. Anyways, you were hunting humans"

_**Even I hunt when I am hungry, and my kind doesn't eat flesh, we eat energy, life energy, and humans are the richest in life energy. To me, eating animals would be like you trying to survive on ants. Animals do not posses significant life energy. Humans do, so I eat humans. **__**At least I don't kill for sport as most of you do. Disgusting habit, I should say.**_

Naruto was stunned. This was a being which was hailed as the most malevolent and destructive being to walk the earth. But, whatever he had heard or read about it didn't fit at all. True, he did kill humans, but he said it was because he was hungry. And it said that it didn't kill for sport …. Naruto shook his head "You're lying!" he said, but only half-heartedly. Something in its demeanor told him that it wasn't lying, at least not consciously.

The demon only shrugged. _** I do not lie. Why should I? As I said before, it is only humans who are capable of such useless actions and emotions. I kill when I am hungry and when I am attacked. That is all I know because there that is how my world operates. **_

"Your world?" asked Naruto, feeling a bit confused.

_**I live, or used to live in another plane of existence. I will not try to explain it to you for you would not comprehend it. **_

"Then what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, slightly peeved.

There was silence. After a few moments, the demon answered _**I do not know exactly how I came into this plane. At first, I thought I had accidentally stumbled upon it. But I have seen how you humans 'summon' creatures who are from another plane, so there is a possibility that I too, might have been summoned. **_The demon sighed. _**You have to understand that I would not willingly come into a place like this. When I arrived in this plane, my hunger seemed to increase many fold. **_

"Then how are you alive?" Naruto interrupted. "You have been locked away for almost twelve years. You should have starved to death by now."

_**I feel no hunger in this place human, at least not unless you use some of my essence.**_

"I do not use your filthy essence" Naruto shouted.

_**Then how do you think all your injuries seem to heal so fast. **_

Naruto went rigid with shock. He had been using the demon's energy all these years?

_**Why do**__**es it bother you so much?**_

Naruto relaxed. It spoke the truth. Why should he be bothered? It wasn't as if he had gone looking for it. It was sealed inside him and he was using its energy as … as rent. Naruto suddenly felt the irony of the things so much that he started laughing. He laughed till tears ran down his face. He was no container of a great evil like the beings in story books. He was more like a fence, keeping the fox from eating the chickens. In this case, the fox was the demon and the chickens were the villagers. He calmed down after some time. Somehow, he could relate to the Kyuubi. Both were hunters, killing for food.

_**You must go back now to your world. Your kind is not meant to be in such places for long for it takes a lot of energy. **_As he said that, he sent out a blast of energy that picked up Naruto like a rag doll and flung him away.

Naruto's eyes snapped open. _Where am I_, he thought as he slowly took in his surroundings. He was in an unfamiliar room. It didn't look like a hospital room. He slowly sat up. He was in a bed, a very expensive looking bed. In fact, everything in the room looked expensive. He saw a tray lying on the table beside his bed. There was a bowl of broth and a loaf of bread on it. The smell of food suddenly made him hungry. He had not eaten since …. He suddenly realized that he not only did not know where he was, but he also did not know what time it was, or even what day it was. He remembered passing out in the forest and then the conversation with Kyuubi. That as all he remembered. How long had he been out? His thoughts broke off as the door opened. _Hokage sama?_ The opulence of the room suddenly made sense. The Sarutobi family was a very rich one. The Hokage's face broke out in a wide smile, relief evident on his face.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" The Hokage asked, taking a chair kept near the bed.

Naruto started to put the tray aside, but the Hokage raised his hand. "Please, do not interrupt your meal on my account. Finish it, and then if you are still hungry, I will have more fetched for you."

Naruto nodded and put the tray back on his lap. "I am feeling fine, Hokage sama. Thank you for taking care of me" he said as he slowly resumed eating.

Sarutobi smiled sadly "Think nothing of it Naruto. I am happy that you are all right. It is the least I can do."

Just then, the door opened again, this time to admit a woman with striking features (and very big mammary glands, thought Naruto). She wordlessly crossed over to him and touched his forehead. Naruto flinched slightly at that contact, but said nothing.

"There is no fever. In fact, there is nothing wrong with him that I can sense" she proclaimed.

Seeing Naruto's confused stare, Sarutobi laughed "Where are my manners? Naruto, meet Tsunade, my former pupil and one of the greatest medic-nins in the world"

Suddenly, the food lay forgotten. He knew of Tsunade. She was one of the legendary sannin. He turned his gaze to the Hokage "Is this something to do with that Orochimaru character?"

The hokage stood still for a few moments. "Why do you ask that, Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto shrugged. "First, that freak attacked us in the middle of the exam, then Tsunade and Jiraya show up … " He suddenly felt silent as he remembered all the things he had said to Jiraya. He felt ashamed. Jiraya had nothing to do with his condition. He had acted like the very villagers he hated, blaming Jiraya for something he was not responsible for. It was then the door opened for the third time to admit Jiraya. Naruto looked up and saw a touch of hurt and fear in the man's eyes. It only made Naruto feel worse.

"I … I'm sorry for the way I acted before. It … It was wrong for me to blame you" Naruto said, his eyes downcast. When he looked up again, Jiraya was smiling along with the others.

"No problem kiddo. We all need to let off some steam now and then" Jiraya said dismissively as he came and sat beside Naruto. "So what do you say kid, you still want to take up on my offer?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "But I will not be learning any techniques used by the fourth"

Sarutobi frowned "The fourth knew some of the most powerful techniques ever seen. Don't let your misplaced hatred for him stop you from learning them"

Naruto shook his head "You don't get it. It has nothing to do with my feelings. To tell you the truth, I no longer hate him as much as I did."

Jiraya frowned "Then why …"

He was cut short by Naruto "The villagers already see me as a demon and the killer of the fourth Hokage. How do you think they will feel if they see me using his signature moves?"

Everyone stared at him for a long time. Then Jiraya sighed "As you wish boy" he said as he got up. As he turned, he said "I will start your training tomorrow. All you need to do today is rest." With that, he left.

Sarutobi followed, after giving Naruto another smile. Tsunade left soon after giving Naruto another swift check-up. Naruto snuggled back into the covers. Soon, his breathing fell into the easy rhythm of one who was asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14: I Need a Vacation

Naruto lay panting on the grass, every muscle in his body aching. He felt as if he had been trampled by a herd of rhinos. To make things worse, it was a sweltering day, the kind of day where you would sweat without having to do anything, without even the smallest hint of a breeze to lift your flagging spirits. Something poked him in the side. He didn't move a muscle.

"This is no time for a nap, goldilocks! We have a long day ahead of us still."

Naruto groaned. This man was a slave driver! Not for the first time, he wished he had refused Jiraya's offer of training.

"You can get up and resume training, or you can rest here and hear me read out my manuscript for the latest Icha-Icha volume".

If looks could kill, Jiraya would be dead a thousand times over. Naruto gritted his teeth and got up, much to Jiraya's amusement. "I need a vacation", he groaned as he prepared to go through the intense torture by the sadistic white haired pervert who called it 'training'.

In another part pf Konoha, Shikamaru and Chouji lay panting on the grass. Asuma was sitting under the tree, rummaging through his pack for some aspirin.

"You guys have five minutes more to rest your sorry butts!" Ino's piercing voice rang through the area.

The three males groaned loudly. Asuma quickly popped two aspirin tablets in his mouth. As an afterthought, he pulled out the pair of ear plugs his father had given him and put them on as well. _ I need a vacation, especially from this girl_, he thought. Times like this made him wish none of his team members had gone through to the finals.

Shikamaru and Chouji were thinking the same thing. Ino having failed to clear the third stage was determined to see her team mates become chuunin. As a result, she was acting as their chaperone, to make sure that no-one slacked off. Shikamaru had tried a lot of things to get out of training, but to no avail. Ino always found him and dragged him back to the training area, much to the amusement for Shikamaru's parents. _Tchh, troublesome woman. I wonder if there is still time for me to defect to another village. I seriously need a vacation once the finals are over._

Chouji fared the worst. Ino had put him on a diet. He had complained to his parents, but they had decided to let Ino have her way. This way, Chouji was sure to improve and they wouldn't have to listen to Ino scream her lungs of at Chouji. Sure, Chouji had shed some fat, had become faster, but he still bemoaned his precious stack of chips and other junk food that had been confiscated by the blonde she-devil. _ I need a vacation_, he moaned.

"Yoooshhhh! Gai-sensei. Join me for a 500-lap jog around Konoha to keep the fires of our youth burning" said a certain green-spandex wearing genin.

"Err … why don't you go alone? I have some things I have to teach Tenten" said a bigger but older version of the hyperactive genin.

"Tenten-san, with Gai-sensei's help, your flames of youth will burn even brighter!" With that, Rock Lee set of on his 500 lap jog.

Maito Gai gratefully sat down beneath a tree, causing Tenten to giggle at her teacher's predicament. She knew very well that Gai had nothing to teach her at this moment. He had only used it as an excuse to get away from Lee. _Serves you right for creating a miniature clone _she smirked.

Gai closed his eyes and tried to relax. He was very pleased that Rock Lee was showing such enthusiasm, but he knew that he could no longer keep up with his energetic and youthful student. By ninja standards, he was considered middle-aged. He sighed ruefully. Who would have thought that the day would come when Maito Gai would be left gasping for breath by a genin? _Lee, you have come so far, but to tell the truth, my youthfulness can no longer keep up with yours._ He shook his head _I think I will apply for a vacation after the finals._

Neiji glanced at the antics of his team mates, then snorted and went back to his training. He knew that he would face Hinata in the second round. He might hate the main branch, but he was a Hyuuga, and the very idea that a Hyuuga would lose to a non-Hyuuga simply didn't exist for him. Thanks to Kiba, Hinata had changed drastically over the past few months and he was no longer confident of an easy victory. There was no doubt that he would win, but now he had to train even harder to make sure that he got through with minimum damage. _Damn that Kiba _he thought angrily, _I think its time he took a vacation, a long vacation._

The chirping of a thousands birds filled the air as Sasuke charged. But before he could reach his target, he received a vicious kick that sent him flying into a boulder behind him.

"Pathetic" said Kakashi. "With such speed, the match will be over before it can begin if you were to face Rock Lee"

Sasuke grimaced as he stood up "Give me a break. I am wearing almost 200 pounds of weight bands. Once I take them of … "

He was cut off by Kakashi "Lee wears close to a thousand pounds and even with the weights, his speed his greater than yours"

Sasuke's mind reeled. _A__ thousand pounds! Is that guy even human?_ He was about to say so when Kakashi said softly "Lee, without his weights, is almost as fast as Itachi is."

Sasuke snarled at the very mention of the man he hated with every fibre of his being. The target dummy seemed to take on Itachi's appearance as he prepared to charge again.

Later that day, a small group of people sat down in the Hokage's living room. The group consisted of Jiraya, Tsunade, the Hokage and his two advisors, Koharu and Homaru (A/N: I do not remember their names). Jiraya looked positively unhappy, while the two advisors looked irritated.

"For the last time, that kid is no danger to anyone" fumed the toad master.

"We are least concerned with young Uzumaki, Jiraya." Said Koharu. "We are concerned with what lies within him, and looking at your expertise in seals and the fact that you were Yondaime's sensei, we will expect a full unbiased report on the condition of the seal and the boy's mental health."

"Do no forget what will happen should the Kyuubi break free" spoke up Homaru as Jiraya was about to start off again.

That shut Jiraya up. He could still remember with crystal clarity, the carnage and destruction that was the result of the demon's attack twelve years ago.

"As we said before, we are not concerned about Naruto except for the fact that he is a Konoha shinobi. All we are interested, and worried about is his tenant." Koharu repeated softly.

Silence reigned for a few minutes, broken only by the occasional slurping of sake. Everyone had their eyes fixed on Jiraya, while he had his eyes fixed on his sake cup.

Finally Jiraya spoke up, "I haven't inspected the seal, but form the fact the Naruto has never accessed the Kyuubi's chakra, I think it would be safe to say that the seal is totally intact. I can give you a detailed report only after a thorough examination." As for his mental health, he is as stable as the next shinobi. All the years of facing hostility from the villagers has instilled a desire to be left alone, which is not unlike the Aburame's need for solitude due to the bugs they carry."

To his surprise, the advisors simply nodded, apparently satisfied with his report, and went back to their drinks. After a few minutes had passed, Koharu spoke again "It is now time to discuss something we have been putting off for too long, the question of who the next Hokage will be……"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15: The Finals Begin

A clear sky with a cool breeze heralded the day of the finals, a day everyone had been waiting for anxiously. Shopkeepers had spruced up their stalls to attract more business from the teeming multitudes that would be in Konoha for this event. Betting stalls were overflowing with people looking to make wagers on their favourites, in fact, the rush was so high that a separate betting booth had been set up for the "filthy rich" populace who would be betting enormous amounts of money on the tournament. Family and well-wishers of the participants, along with a lot of people who had bet a lot of money thronged the temples seeking the blessings of the Gods. The ninjas posted on guard duty had their hands full trying to regulate the sea of humanity that seemed to flood almost all of Konoha.

The stadium where the finals were to be hosted filled up by midmorning. A separate section had been reserved for the various lords that would be attending the tournament. In another section, cordoned off by guards, sat the most important people, the sandaime Hokage, the Kazekage and two of the legendary sannin, Jiraya and Tsunade. In the centre of the stadium stood the participants: Hyuuha Neiji, Uzumaki Naruto, Akamichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, Rock Lee, Gaara, Uchiha Sasuke, Dozu, Aburame Shino, Kankuro, Temari, and Nara Shikamaru. The proctor for this day was Genma.

At the appointed hour, the Hokage stood, signalling for silence. At once, all the noise in the stadium died out.

"I welcome you all to the finals of the chuunin exam." His voice boomed.

"Standing before you are twelve of the finest ninjas that entered the exam a month ago. Today, they will fight before you all to prove their worthiness for the rank of chuunin. So without any further delay, let the finals begin".

A roar of approval and cheers erupted from the crowd as the much awaited finals began. All the participants went up to their designated boxes except for the two who would be starting the tournament, Neiji and Naruto.

Naruto had a calm look on his face, while Neiji had a bored look on his. Most of the population from Konoha was waiting eagerly to see Neiji thrash Naruto. The bookmakers had received very few bets even after they had put the odds of 1:250 on Naruto. The stadium grew quite with anticipation as Genma signalled the start of the match.

"You should resign while you still can. You are fated to lose" Neiji sneered at Naruto. "I have seen you fight. You made it to the finals on sheer dumb luck. You are a dead-last and have no hope of …"

What Naruto had no hope of nobody got to know, for Neiji was forced to cut of his tirade as Naruto launched two shuriken at him. Naruto made no sound as he launched a fresh volley of shuriken at Neiji, keeping him at a distance.

Two minutes went by with neither of the two combatants able to land a blow on the other. The few that had been cheering for Neiji had also gone still. The dead-last was going toe to toe with the Hyuuga genius! A few of them even pinched themselves to convince themselves that this was not a dream. Somewhere in the stands, Hyuuga Hiashi shook his head.

_Neiji is becoming confused and frustrated. He did not expect Naruto to keep dodging his attacks for so long, but then again, I don't think any of us did._

Neiji was indeed becoming frustrated. Naruto was keeping him away from striking distance and had managed to dodge the few attacks he had attempted. _There is no way this dead-last can last against me_, he thought as he dodged yet another shuriken. _Sooner or later he is going to run out of weapons and then I will have him_.

Naruto took out a scroll out of his pocket. Neiji frowned as he recognized the scroll.

_A weapons scroll? Does he really think it would work against me?_

The scroll unfurled to hurl a whole bunch of shuriken towards Neiji who simply performed the Kaiten to hurl them all away. Neiji smirked while Naruto simply took out another scroll.

_Does that idiot not understand that it will not work against me?_ Neiji smirked as he prepared to perform another Kaiten. But just as the weapons flew from the scroll, Naruto's hands flashed rapidly performing hand seals. What happened next shocked everybody.

Neiji took the stance for the Kaiten. But as he prepared to spin, the ground beneath him turned to bog. The stickiness of the bog, combined with the element of surprise made him stumble. The silence of the stadium was broken by the sounds of meaty thunks as a few shuriken embedded themselves in Neiji's arms and legs.

_Why that little … _raged Neiji inwardly as he jumped out of the bog, his arms and legs throbbing from his wounds. He charged towards Naruto, fury etched all over his face. The crows got their second shock when he slowed down halfway and then fell face forward to the ground.

_Poison, _.Neiji's mind screamed at him as he struggled to get up, but his limbs refused to move. He lay there for a few moments before Genma walked up to him. One look was enough to tell him that the match was over. He turned towards the stand where the Hokage was sitting and said "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto"

Cheers broke out amongst the crowd, with the people who had bet on Naruto cheering the loudest. Jiraya frowned when he saw that few among the adult populace of Konoha were cheering. The few Hyuuga who had bothered to come were rooted in their seats, shell shocked. Suddenly, Hiashi stood up and started clapping. Seeing the head of the Hyuuga household brought a few people around him to their feet as well. Soon, the whole stadium as on its feet, applauding Naruto's victory as Naruto walked back to his booth.

_Naruto exploited the main weakness of the Hyuuga, over-reliance on their clan techniques_ Jiraya thought as he watched Neiji being led away on a stretcher.

"So that is why he seemed so interested in my stores of herbs and medical scrolls" murmured Tsunade as she watched Naruto leave the arena.

Once the cheers had died down, Genma called out the next two participants on to the arena: Akamichi Chouji and Hyuuga Hinata.

_You showed what the academy dead-last could do, Naruto. Now it is my turn to show what the clan-failure can do_. Such were the thoughts running through Hinata's head as she readied herself.

"Begin!" shouted Genma as he sprang back.

Chouji instantly leapt back and enlarged his arms, forcing Hinata to back off. Chouji knew that if he let Hinata close, it would all be over. Chouji then drew his war hammer and attacked Hinata. The massive weapon seemed like a twig in his hands due to the ease with which he was swinging it, keeping his opponent at bay. The hammer had another purpose. Every time it hit the ground, it generated small tremors that could cause an opponent to lose balance.

Hinata danced away as the massive hammer smashed into the ground just inches from where she had been standing. Chouji's left hand was wrapped in a chain covered with spikes, so she couldn't risk moving in and closing off the tenketsus on his hand. The earth shattering display of raw strength had convinced her that one hit would be enough to send her to the hospital.

_I guess I'll have to use it after all, _she thought as her hand travelled to her weapons pouch. She leapt away from another one of Chouji's swings as flung a handful of shuriken at him. Chouji simply batted them away with his hammer, then with a speed that caught her by surprise, reversed the direction of his hammer in mid swing. Hinata frantically jumped away, but the hammer managed to graze her ribs. She felt her breath leave her body as she stumbled.

_It hurt like hell even though it just grazed me_ she thought as they both circled each other. Her plan had been to charge in when Chouji used his hammer to block her shuriken, but apparently his speed and skill with the hammer were too great for her. She did not know if her Kaiten could ward of the hammer, so she couldn't use it. Chouji seemed to be thinking the same thing because he suddenly launched himself at her with a fierce cry. This time, instead of jumping away, Hinata ducked and leapt towards him. Again, Chouji reversed his hammer in mid-swing.

Hinata was sent flying a good distance as the hammer hit her. This time, she couldn't stop the cry of pain that escaped her lips. As she struggled to get up, the audience gasped in surprise as the hammer dropped from Chouji's fingers.

_She managed to hit his hand just before the hammer hit her. _Hiashi marvelled as he watched his daughter stand up on wobbly feet.

Hinata grinned weakly as she sent yet another barrage of shuriken at him. Chouji blocked them with his left hand, but his eyes widened as he felt something wrap around his arms.

_There are wires attached to the shuriken_, he realized as he frantically tried to pull his hand free. Just then, he felt his hand go numb. He looked at Hinata to see the ends of the wires in her hands. The two combatants stared at one another for a few moments, before Chouji sighed "I forfeit!"

"Winner! Hyuuga Hinata" announced Genma to the wildly cheering crowd. Hinata limped away, her right hand clutching her ribs, and Chouji walked back slowly, his arms hanging limp. Kurenai and Kiba cheered wildly as Hinata's victory was announced.

_She sent a Jyuuken pulse through wires. That girl is just amazing_. Such were Kurenai's thoughts as she continued to cheer for Hinata. She knew that Hinata wasn't weak, just gentle. The constant verbal abuse Hiashi gave her had scarred her deeply, but she had managed to come out on top in the end, moving through to the second round where Neiji, the so-called genius, had fallen in the first round, and to none other than the academy dead-last, Uzumaki Naruto.

Uzumaki Naruto. Now he was a surprise. He had defeated the top ranking rookie of the previous year without breaking a sweat, and with such devastating efficiency. Naruto had used only one jutsu during the entire match, but she was sure he had plenty more up his sleeve. She had known immediately after Naruto had won, that neither Hinata nor Chouji would be able to beat him. There was little doubt that Naruto would be made a chuunin.

_I can only hope that you find a way to impress the judges in your next match also, Hinata._


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16: The Finals Continue

"Next match is between Rock Lee and Gaara" Genma announced to the extremely excited crowd. He grinned as he spotted the anguished expressions of a few bookies he knew by sight. Naruto and Hinata had thrown all predictions out of the window. He was even more pleased by the fact that he had put a thousand ryo on Naruto. The betting odds meant that he now had 250,000 ryo. _I think I'll send Naruto ten percent of that as 'commission'_.

Anko stood panting over the dead body of the Sound jounin, blood dripping from her short sword. A leaf ANBU came over to her side, his uniform spattered with blood and gore.

"This section is clear. Return to the village and clean up. We need everyone back there as fast as possible. Two of the other teams also reported that they had encountered ninjas mostly from Sound. This means that most of the Sand ninjas are inside the village."

Anko nodded wordlessly as she sped back to the village. She wanted to go to the other sections, but she knew that she was exhausted and would be of no use. _At least that snake has been thwarted_, she thought grimly. The Aburames had very discretely sent out their bugs to the forests a few days ago. Just yesterday, near midnight, the bugs had reported the presence of ninjas coming in groups and staying in the forest, signaling the preparations for the invasion the Hokage had anticipated. So, a special strike team had been assembled to take them out during the tournament, when no one would notice the fighting. _ I hope the other groups have also been eliminated…_

Rock Lee stared in disbelief as chunks of solidified sand fell away from Gaara's face. _My lotus technique failed_, he thought as he limped away. His right leg felt like it was on fire due to the injuries he had sustained performing the lotus technique.

Gaara's whole body was shaking. He suddenly threw his head back and let loose a chilling howl that froze everybody for an instant. His expression, which had been stoic till now, twisted into a mask of insane fury as his sand began to swirl wildly. His hand shot out as the sand sped with incredible speed towards the injured Lee. But before it reached him, the sand was blown away by Genma, who had rushed in to save Lee.

"This match is over." he said. "Winner, Gaara!"

Gaara glared at him for a few moments, unwilling to leave his prey. Genma sighed with relief as Gaara finally walked away. Only a handful applauded for him as he walked back towards his box. Most of them were too freaked out. A minute later, a distraught Lee hobbled out of the stadium, his dreams of becoming a chuunin crushed. He kept his head down as he went back, oblivious to the round of applause that the crowd gave him for putting up a good fight.

_So that is the jinchuuriki of the Sand_, mused Sarutobi. _Jiraya was right. The demon does not appear to have been sealed properly, causing the boy's mental imbalance._

Genma cleared his throat before shouting "Next match will be between Shino and Kankuro. Will two combatants step out into the ring?"

"I forfeit!"

All eyes turned to Kankuro in shock. Shino frowned at this sudden turn of events. He had seen the puppeteer in action during the preliminaries and had been looking forward to fight him. _Why did he forfeit? It makes no sense_.

Genma sighed as the crowd starting booing the Sand genin. After waiting a few moments, he called out loudly "The next match will be between Temari and Shikamaru. Will the two combatants step out into the ring?"

Both the genins came out, Temari walking out with her head held high and glaring daggers at the crowd who had booed her brother. Shikamaru came out with his head down, walking sluggishly and wishing he could be anywhere else but here.

"You better kick her butt, or I'll kick your's straight to the hospital" screamed Ino, wildly flapping her arms.

Shikamaru groaned audibly. Why oh why did he have that girl as his team mate? Why couldn't he have someone like Tenten instead? Hi head dropped further as sections of the crowd started laughing at Ino's ranting. Genma chuckled at Shikamaru's expression.

Temari started attacking immediately, forcing Shikamaru to jump back to avoid being cut to ribbons by the wind blades. The next few seconds were hilarious, with Shikamaru running and Temari swinging her fan sending strong gusts everywhere. Most of the crowd was rolling in laughter as they watched the young Nara simply run around, not even bothering to counter Temari's attacks. Unfortunately for Shikamaru, the crowd's laughter only served to anger Temari further. The enraged kunoichi let loose another barrage of wind attacks as Shikamaru jumped behind a group of trees to give himself some cover.

"Come out and fight, you lazy coward!!!" Temari screamed at the top of her lungs.

Kankuro winced. The last time Temari had got that angry, she had managed to demolish their entire house and he had landed up in the hospital for three weeks, all because she had stumbled upon his stash of "literature". Even though the Nara boy meant nothing, he couldn't help feel a little sorry for him.

A tendril of shadow sped like an arrow towards Temari, who jumped back frantically to dodge it. She knew what would happen if she were to get caught by Shikamaru's shadows. Suddenly, the tendril stopped and quivered, as if straining to reach her. Temari grinned.

_So this is the limit of his reach. Now I can demolish him_.

But just as she was about to unleash a devastating attack, a barrage of kunai sped towards her, quickly followed by another. She unleashed a wind attack which blew the first bunch of kunai right into the second bunch. But just as the two collided, they exploded, releasing a lot of smoke.

_Smoke bombs? What the …_

Temari found herself frozen, unable to move an inch. She lowered her gaze to find that she was caught in Shikamaru's shadow-bind technique. She then understood what the second barrage of kunai had been for. Shikamaru had figured that she would try to knock the first group into the second, and had disguised some smoke bombs into kunai in the second barrage. The overhead smoke cloud had then given his shadow the extra reach he had needed to capture her. She found herself walking towards Shikamaru. She strained to break free, but it was of no use. Try as she might, she could not break free. As the two ninja came within a few feet of each other, Shikamaru raised his hand, causing Temari to raise her hands as well.

Temari's eyebrows shot up in horror. _He's going to make me forfeit the match!_ As her hand went up, she closed her eyes, not wanting to look at anybody when she lost.

"I forfeit"

The crowd gasped in unison. Genma's senbon fell out of his mouth.

"I said I forfeit" said a now exasperated Shikamaru. "I have run out of chakra"

Temari blinked rapidly. He had forfeited? She had won? She didn't even notice her hand falling back as Shikamaru released her from his shadow. Temari slowly walked back to the stands in a daze, still reeling for that shock "victory". But the panel of judges was quite pleased with this battle. Shikamaru had all the makings of an excellent chuunin.

Yamato sighed in relief as the last of the Sound ninja was killed. They had made sure that no one had got away to sound an alarm. _Summoning circles, eh? _He thought as he looked around. He didn't know what the summon was exactly, but given that Orochimaru was in charge of the Sound, it would probably be snakes. He quickly divided his team into two groups, one to erase all signs of the battle and the second to destroy the summoning circles, so no one could use them. Judging by their sizes, the summons would be monstrous in size. He had no wish to fight giant animals in addition to enemy ninjas.

Sasuke stood triumphantly amidst thunderous applause from the crowd over Dozu's charred corpse. The sound ninja had been caught of guard by Sasuke's new speed and had paid the price for that. A lot of girls could be heard screaming Sasuke's name as they gazed upon him with pure adoration. Surprisingly, Ino and Sakura just applauded softly. Their enthusiasm was not dampened by the fact that Sasuke had killed his opponent, but by the fact that he had seemed to enjoy it.

After a couple of minutes, Genma announced loudly "There will be a five minute intermission before the next round starts." This resulted in a mad rush to the bookies counters to place fresh bets, especially in the light of what had happened so far.

Just after the announcement was made, a ninja made his way to the Hokage's stand and handed him a note. Sarutobi's eyebrow's rose in surprise when he saw that it was from the panel of judges. Tsunade and Jiraya looked at each other in confusion as they watched his expression darken after he had read the letter.

"Is anything the matter?" Jiraya asked. Sarutobi simply handed him the letter. Jiraya frowned as he read the contents aloud:

_Hokage sama_

_Based on the first round results, we would like to propose a change for the next round. We have already witnessed Uzumaki Naruto defeat the Hyuuga prodigy, Hyuuga Neiji. Therefore, we believe that it would be better if he fought someone else in the next round instead of Hyuuga Hinata. We would like Uzumaki Naruto to face Uchiha Sasuke in the second round._

Tsunade chuckled as Jiraya finished reading. "Let Naruto face the Uchiha brat" she said. "It will be priceless to see their faces after Naruto thrashes him."

Sarutobi sighed. He did not know if this move was being suggested because they hated Naruto, or simply because they wanted to judge his skills based on how he fought opponents with different bloodlines. On the other hand, if Naruto did manage to defeat Uchiha Sasuke, then Naruto's promotion to the rank of chuunin would be guaranteed. He slowly turned towards where the judges were sitting, looking at him expectantly. They smiled as he nodded to indicate that it was all right for them to proceed as they had planned.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 17: Round Two of the Finals

Hatake Kakashi, elite jounin ninja and the guide for Team seven was rudely brought out of his reverie by the spandex clad, hyperactive, green beast of Konoha, Maito Gai when the latter thumped him on the back quite hard.

"Kakashi, my eternal rival, I have lost to you today. Two of your students have made it to the second round while none of mine did" Gai said, flashing his 1000 watt smile.

A little further away …

"How could you give up just like that after you had that Sand bimbo right in your grasp" an irate Ino was screaming into poor Shikamaru's ears.

Naruto was sitting quietly in his seat, when Sakura came up to him.

"Congratulations on getting through the first round, Naruto" she said with a smile.

At first, Naruto's eyebrows rose in surprise, but after a moment, he too, smiled. "Thanks." He said, genuinely pleased that his team mate had come up to congratulate him

It was then that he noticed Genma signalling the start of the second round. As he and Hinata got ready to go down, Genma made an announcement that surprised everyone save the judges.

"Ladies and gentlemen" announced Genma "There will be a slight change in the match-ups. The first battle will be between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke"

This announcement was met by a roar of cheers from the audience, and exclamations of surprise and anger from the participants. Hinata was dismayed. She had wanted to fight Naruto so badly, not because he had defeated Kiba, but because she respected him. Naruto had been hated by almost everyone throughout his life; she had been hated by most of her clan throughout her life. Both had been written off as "weaklings" and "failures", pathetic little kids who could never hope to be more than an average ninja leading average lives. Both of them had struggled through their academy days. But both of them had shocked all their detractors by coming this far based purely on their own efforts. Swallowing her disappointment, she walked over to Naruto and held out her hand.

"Good luck, Naruto" she said softly. "I hope we get to fight each other in the next round".

Naruto smiled and shook her hand, then went out to the arena where Uchiha Sasuke was already waiting for him.

"You didn't look very surprised when Naruto beat Neiji, Jiraya" said Sarutobi.

The toad hermit simply grinned. "Neither would you if you had had a glimpse of the battle plans the kid was drawing up. I don't know how he got hold of so much information about the Hyuuga fighting style, but he had gone into combat with multiple counters for all of Neiji's moves. On top of that, he knew his biggest advantage, Neiji's arrogance."

Sarutobi frowned "But what makes you so sure that Naruto will win this match. Kakashi had taken him away for special training to a secured location"

Jiraya and Tsunade laughed. "Making battle plans isn't his only trump card" Tsunade said.

Sarutobi arched his eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?'

Tsunade just shook her head "Just watch and you'll find out soon enough".

A pair of cold eyes narrowed in anticipation as the two team mates squared off. _Show me your power Uchiha, show me …_

Naruto smoothly dodged another volley of shuriken and back flipped away, throwing some shuriken of his own to force Sasuke back and create some distance between them. In his mind, he had started going over the chart he had created, comparing it with what he was facing.

_Uchiha Sasuke:_

_Potentially dangerous techniques: Chidori_

He barely managed to dodge Sasuke's next hit.

_Possible areas trained by Kakashi in:_

_Speed_

_Stamina_

He went flying back as Sasuke managed to slip in through his defences and punch him on the jaw.

_Known Weaknesses:_

_Short-tempered, especially at the mention of Itachi_

_Sharingan not fully developed yet_

Naruto wiped the blood of his chin as he stood up. Sasuke was looking at him with barely controlled fury.

"You took my prey away from me!" Sasuke rasped.

"What!" exclaimed Naruto. The rest of the crowd was confused as well.

"You defeated Hyuuga Neiji" Sasuke roared. "He was mine. I am going to rip you apart into tiny pieces"

With that, Sasuke charged towards Naruto at blinding speed, only to stumble back as he hit some sort of barrier. Gasps rose from the crowd, especially the section where the Hyuuga were seated. Hyuuga Hiashi was sitting there with his mouth open as he watched Naruto push Sasuke away with what looked like a chakra shield. Sasuke roared with fury as he charged again, only to strike that barrier again and stumble.

_Every time the Uchiha charges, he sends out a burst of chakra from all around him, so that no matter where the enemy strikes from, he is protected. This has the same effect as the kaiten,_ thought Hyuuga Hiashi. _For a mere genin to come up with such a defence is simply mind boggling. But, there is a problem with sending out such large bursts of chakra from all parts of your body for too long_.

Indeed, Naruto was feeling dizzy. _I can't keep this up for much longer_ he thought _Come on Sasuke, use your Chidori_.

Kakashi was watching the match with a sense of dread. _This is bad. Sasuke is getting more and more frustrated. At this rate, he is bound to do something stupid_.

"Amazing!" whispered Sarutobi.

"What did we tell you?" Jiraya said with glee as he elbowed the Hokage.

By now, a large section of the crowd were cheering for their Uchiha protégé, urging him on.

"Your little tricks won't work against my Chidori" Unable to stand it any more, Sasuke screamed as he ran back to the opposite wall where he flashed through the necessary seals.

_Sucker_ was Naruto's only thought as he went through a hand seal himself.

Gai's eyes nearly popped out. He swiftly turned towards Kakashi "You taught him how to open the gates!"

Kakashi frowned as he shook his head. "I didn't."

Jiraya chuckled as a very pissed off Sarutobi and Tsunade swung towards him with baleful expressions. "Yes, I taught him that"

Tsunade exploded "You very well know the dangers of this technique. What if … "

Jiraya cut her off. "Watch" he said as he pointed to the arena where Naruto was standing, covered in blue chakra, and Sasuke, who was perched on the wall, the Chidori now complete.

Time seemed to slow down as Sasuke charged. Hundred feet … Eighty feet … Sixty feet … fifty feet …

A small "whump" was heard as a shockwave passed through the stadium. Sasuke was picked up like a rag doll and slammed against the wall. The stunned crowd went deathly silent. A few seconds passed as Sasuke unsteadily pushed himself up, smoke rising from his burnt shirt, his head ringing.

Again, that same "whump" was heard as Sasuke was picked up again and slammed into the wall. This time, he did not get up.

Naruto sank to his knees as the chakra surrounding him slowly faded away. Black spots danced before his eyes. Genma rushed towards the fallen Sasuke. After making certain that the Uchiha was in no condition to continue the fight, he stood up and walked towards Naruto. He pulled Naruto up and announced "Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!"

This time, the crowd exploded, with the Hyuuga cheering the loudest, and the bookies guild screaming obscenities at both the constants. Amidst all the pandemonium, no one noticed the pair of Hyuuga branch members escorting Hyuuga Hanabi out of the stadium, or Ebisu escorting Konohamaru out. A predetermined signal was passed around and the jounin that had been strategically placed amongst the civilian crowd began to get ready. Nara Shikaku had guessed that Orochimaru would likely wait till he saw Sasuke's matches before he made his move. Now that he had been knocked out, the attack would come at any moment. More than one jounin prayed that the threat outside the walls had been neutralized.

Shikaku's estimation proved to be correct, as all of a sudden, the air was filled with feathers gently floating down. The invasion had begun, although unknown to the invaders, the element of surprise and superiority of overwhelming numbers was no longer on their side.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18: The Invasion

Tsunade blinked twice before she was convinced that the 'thing' that stood before her was real. It looked like an amalgam of various creatures stuck together hastily. A quick glance towards her right told her that Jiraya was in the same situation. Below her, the ninjas from Sand were battling the Konoha ninjas, still unaware that their backup had been destroyed.

Naruto groggily pushed himself to his feet. The burst of chakra he had had to use to dispel the genjutsu had caused him to become even dizzier. The black spots in front of his eyes were now dancing madly. It was because of that he failed to notice the enemy before he was in striking distance. Naruto stumbled back, still feeling the after effects of his previous battle, just narrowly missing being decapitated. The ninja grinned, seeing his weakened state and raised his sword once more. The next moment, his eyes went wide and then glazed over as his heart exploded. The sword dropped from his dead hands as he tumbled into the dust, revealing the figure of Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata quickly rushed over to Naruto and helped him up.

"Are you all right, Naruto?" she asked worriedly.

Naruto nodded slowly, his head still spinning. He knew that in his current state, he was useless. Hinata grabbed him and ran over to where Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino and Chouji were standing guard over the prone form of Uchiha Sasuke. Once Hinata let go, Naruto sat down, trying to clear his head.

Jiraya groaned as the thing in front of him slowly stood up, blood dripping from its chest where Jiraya had hit him with a rasengan. _You have to be kidding me! That thing just won't stop!_ Indeed, the monstrosity battling Jiraya was bleeding with near fatal wounds in at least a dozen places, but it showed no signs of exhaustion or weakness. Jiraya began to realize that killing it was the only thing he could do to stop it. His hair stood on its end as the thing screamed with maniacal glee.

Kankuro smirked as Karasu buried its poison tipped daggers in Shino's chest, but his smirk quickly changed to a look of alarm as 'Shino' dissolved into a swarm of angry kikachu bugs. _Shit! That was a clone!_ He frantically whirled around just in time to partially block Shino's attack. A snarl formed on his face as he swung Karasu around to attack him once more.

Orochimaru was worried. First, the reinforcements he had left outside the village had not shown up. Second, there was no sight of the snake summons that were supposed to be wreaking mayhem in the village. Third, two of his Sound Four had been intercepted by ANBU. The other two had proceeded to create the barrier surrounding him and the Sandaime, but with only two, the barrier was very weak. He knew that once Jiraya finished of his 'experiment', he would find a way to quickly break through the barrier.

Chouji grunted as waves of sand crashed into his earth barrier again and again. Tenten was wrapping up Temari's ankle using a kunai for a splint. Everyone was thinking the same thing; how long would it be before Chouji gave out in the face of the ferocious assault from Gaara.

"What the hell is wrong with your brother, woman?" a trembling Shikamaru asked Temari.

A pale faced Temari just shuddered. "He … he's lost control!" she stammered.

"I can see that, but tell us why. Chouji can't keep this up much longer" Shikamaru said frantically, seeing Chouji drop to his knees, his massive frame trembling. Hinata rushed over to him and started pouring her own chakra through his tenketsus to help him maintain their defences.

Temari hesitated, but then shrugged "Gaara has the one-tailed demon sealed onside him. Because of that, he has always been a little unstable, especially when he smells blood. Given the fact that there is a full scale battle going on and he has not killed in three weeks …"

"He has gone over the edge" finished Shikamaru. This explained why Gaara was attacking wildly. He had crushed a sand ninja and attacked Temari before he had spotted Naruto.

The others had gone white with shock. A berserker, they could deal with, a demon, no way!

Naruto reached inside a pocket inside his vest and brought out a small paper with an intricate seal drawn over it. "Place this on his forehead and the demon will recede, at least for some time" he said.

"Since when did you become a seal master Naruto" snapped Kiba, more out of fright than out of anger.

Naruto shook his head. "Not me. Jiraya sama gave it to me, for practice"

Thankfully, none of them noticed the slight pause Naruto before the word "practice". Normally, Shikamaru would have, but he was too busy to figure out a way to get close enough to Gaara without being crushed by his sand.

"We have to do something fast" Everybody turned towards Hinata's frantic scream Both Chouji and Hinata were on their last leg, barely holding up. The wall protecting them would be down in less than a minute.

Shikamaru turned towards Tenten. "Tenten, I want you to run as fast as you can and use your weapon scrolls on Gaara. When I give the signal" He then turned towards Naruto. "Naruto, the jutsu you used against Sasuke, how many times more can you do it?

"Against Gaara, only once" Naruto replied, getting to his feet a little unsteadily. "I will need to put a huge amount of chakra into the attack for it to have any sort of effect."

Shikamaru nodded. "All right. Here is the full plan. Tenten will initially distract Gaara. When he turns towards her, Naruto will attack to knock him off balance. Lee will use his super speed to get close to Gaara to apply the seal."

Everybody nodded. They did not need to be told that this was a one-shot mission. At Shikamaru's signal, Tenten rushed out, scrolls beginning to unfold. So intent was Gaara on his prey that he didn't notice her until the weapons started speeding towards him. With a snarl of rage, he swung his sand to block the attack. At that instant, Chouji dropped his shield and Naruto hit him with that strange technique. This time, the shockwave caused the very earth to tremble. The attack hit Gaara head on, knocking him of his feet. Lee was already ready with the First Gate open, and rushed towards Gaara at blinding speed.

To everyone's horror, even though Gaara was flat on the ground, a wave of sand forced Lee to abandon his attack and jump out of the way.

"His sand defence is automatic" Temari whimpered, causing everyone to freeze in shock.

Howling like a rabid beast, Gaara got up again and sped his sand towards the person who had hurt him. Lee sped towards Gaara again, but he would not reach him before the sand reached Naruto. Chouji and Hinata were nearly unconscious from the strain of maintaining the earth wall. All they could do was gape in horror as the sand flew towards Naruto with the silent promise of a painful death.

Naruto's breath came in ragged gasps as he fought to summon chakra to defend himself. He could barely see anything because of the black spots in front of his eyes. His head was spinning and he felt like throwing up. As he frantically tried to summon more chakra, he saw Gaara's sand speed towards him.

_I don't want to die, not like this, not yet! _Naruto screamed in his mind as he struggled in ain to summon more chakra. He heard the others scream at him to run but he was frozen in place. Just as the sand reached him, the world turned blood red.

Jiraya stood panting over the corpse of the mutated creature. His gaze then turned towards the place where his sensei and Orochimaru were fighting within a purple barrier.

"We've got a problem!" Tsunade shouted as she landed next to him.

Jiraya said nothing as his hands literally flew through a complicated series of hand seals. It took him a full minute to complete it, but once he was done, the barrier began to shimmer and distort. The two Sound ninjas who had been maintaining the barrier tried frantically to keep it up, but slowly, it began to disintegrate. Immediately, Tsunade rushed over to the Sandaime's side just as three coffins began to rise slowly from the ground. Before they could open, Sarutobi and Tsunade pushed back one each. To their horror and disgust, the third coffin opened to reveal the figure of the Shodaime, Tsunade's grandfather.

Orochimaru cackled wildly. "Let's see how you do against the founder of your village". As he prepared to perform the hand seals to fully revive the Shodaime, everyone felt the sudden burst of chakra, a chakra they had not felt in the last twelve years. Even Orochimaru froze for a moment. Unfortunately for him, Jiraya chose this moment to launch into his own sets of hand seals and destroyed the corpse before it would be fully revived. Orochimaru knew that he had no chance against all three of them, so yelling all sorts of foul curses, he sank beneath the ground.

An ashen-faced Sarutobi turned towards Jiraya. As he opened his mouth to speak, Jiraya cut him off

"Relax sensei. The seal is not broken. The chakra output is too weak for that"

"Nevertheless, we should find him before he really loses control" said Tsunade.

The three nodded and quickly rushed to the place where they had felt the chakra coming from.

"Narutoooooooo!" Sakura and Hinata screamed as the sand engulfed Naruto. The next instant, a massive burst of chakra sent the sand flying everywhere to reveal Naruto, completely engulfed in blood red chakra. This sight made Gaara grin even wider.

"Uzumaki! I will make and offering of your blood to mother!" he screamed as his willed his sand to cover and crush him.

This time, everyone saw clearly what Naruto did. A concentrated beam of read chakra flew out of Naruto's hands and hit Gaara with enough force to send him flying. So great was the chakra output this time that the ninja fighting outside the arena felt it. Lee reached Gaara just as he fell and slapped the seal on his forehead.

Gaara screamed with terrifying pain. Even more terrifying was the sound of a second scream that seemed to be coming from within Gaara, but not from Gaara. The sand around him thrashed wildly as his body shook with convulsions. Then all of a sudden, he pitched forward, unconscious.

"Naruto"

Naruto turned towards the sound out his name being called out to find Jiraya looking at him with worry etched all over his face. The red chakra enveloping him winked out as he collapsed. Tsunade caught him before he could fall and gently laid him on the ground. A quick check told her that he had lost consciousness due to severe chakra depletion.

Meanwhile, Jiraya went over to check Gaara's prone form. He quickly put a few more seals just to make sure he wouldn't get up any time soon. It was then he noticed the silence around him. He looked around to find that the sand ninja had surrendered. The arena was littered with the bodies of dead ninja, Leaf and Sand alike, along with a few unfortunate civilians who had been too slow to escape.

A sudden scream made him turn around. His eyes went wide with horror as he saw the limp body of Uchiha Sasuke in the grasp of Orochimaru, whose teeth were sunk into Sasuke's neck. Sarutobi moved with incredible speed and cut his neck off, only to have Orochimaru's body turn into the carcass of a snake. He quickly turned towards Sasuke praying he was wrong, but his fears were confirmed when he saw the curse seal on Sasuke's neck, exactly where the snake had bitten him. Sarutobi shook his head sadly, they had managed to stop the invasion, but had failed to thwart Orochimaru's primary goal, Sasuke.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 19 – Promotions and Premonitions

He ran through the forest, his breath coming out in labored gasps as the sounds of pursuit drew closer. In his panic filled flight, he failed to spot the jutting tree root and tumbled into the ground. As he got up, he saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eyes; his pursuer had caught up with him. A figure, cloaked from head to toe in an ashen robe, stepped into his view. He started to back off, shaking with fear, but then stopped suddenly. Why was he afraid? Hadn't he beaten both Hyuuga and Uchiha? That was right. He was strong and he would not go down without a fight. The cloaked figure slowly advanced on him as he opened the First Gate. Gathering all his energy, he unleashed a fearsome blast that hammered into his assailant. His smile quickly faded as the figure slowly got up on his feet, seemingly uninjured. He unleashed another blast, this time; it just staggered back, but stayed on its feet. Fear crept into his heart as he unleashed blast after blast, only to watch the figure shrug them off like they were nothing, inching closer to him with every step. His head started to spin due to the excessive use of chakra. Combined with the sheer terror, he lost his footing and fell down on the ground, unable to move as the figure now stood mere inches from him. In a last attempt, he fired of another blast, a weak one, straight at its head, as it bent towards him. The blast did nothing to stop it, but jarred the hood loose. His breath stopped in his throat as the faint moonlight revealed the man's face. It was his face! He could only watch in horror as the blue eyes turned red, teeth elongated into fangs and the mouth twisted into a leering visage of hatred and lust …

Naruto's eyes snapped open, his breathing short and fast, his heart hammering like wild. As he sat up, he noticed that he was drenched in cold sweat. He groaned as he got out of bed. This was the third time he had woken up this night, that too from the same nightmare. He glanced at his clock. It read 4:55. He sighed. It would be no use to try and go to sleep now.

Images of his fight with Gaara came unbidden before his eyes. _Gaara has the one-tailed demon sealed onside him_, Temari's words rang in his head. Was this the fate of every person who had a demon sealed inside them? Was he doomed to go berserk one day? He drank a glass of water and then went back to bed. He lay there till his alarm went of, dreary thoughts running through his mind over and over again.

The village was decked up like a royal bride. Walls of buildings had been polished till they gleamed in the sunlight. All the people had arrived at the base of the Hokage tower to welcome their newest Hokage. The crowd broke into a cheer when Sarutobi walked out onto the balcony of the tower. Of all the previous Hokage, he was the most popular amongst the people. While they were all saddened by the fact that he was about to retire, many were pleased as it meant that the old man would finally be getting some much needed rest.

"Dear citizens of Konoha" Sarutobi's voice boomed once the cheering had died down.

"It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the coronation of our fifth Hokage. I hope you will support her as much as you have supported me. And now, without further delay, I bring to you, the fifth Hokage of Konoha, the legendary medic-sannin, Tsunade".

The crowd broke into a full throated cheer as Tsunade walked out to stand beside her old teacher. She was decked in the traditional Hokage robes along with the hat. She waved her hand in response to the cheering, but she was not that happy on the inside. She had got a glimpse of the mountain of paperwork that she would be doing from now on.

Shikamaru and Naruto stood in rigid attention. Facing them were Tsunade, Jiraya, Sarutobi and his two advisers, all seated behind a large desk of polished mahogany.

"Nara Shikamaru, step forward"

Shikamaru did so, a little nervously.

"Judging by your performance in the exams, you are hereby appointed the rank of chuunin." Tsunade smiled at him as she reached beneath the table and brought out a brand new chuunin vest.

Shikamaru took the vest, bowed and stepped back, thinking wryly that his cloud watching time would be severely cut short.

"Uzumaki Naruto, step forward"

Naruto stepped forward.

"Judging by your performance in the exams, you are hereby appointed the rank of chuunin."

Tsunade grinned openly as she handed him his chuunin vest. As he was about to turn back, she handed him an envelope.

"This is a small percentage of the winnings a few people made by betting on you" She said with a wink.

Naruto was flabbergasted. People had actually bet on him? He was shaken out of his thoughts as Tsunade addressed them both.

"Both of you will report to the academy for one week from tomorrow. As newly appointed chuunins, you will be undergoing special classes for diplomacy and strategy. Shikamaru, you are dismissed. Naruto, please stay back for a while" .

Naruto kept an impassive face as Shikamaru went out of the room. He could guess why they wanted him to stay back.

After a few uncomfortable moments of silence, Tsunade sighed "Take a seat, Naruto. This will take some time."

"Is this about … my tenant?" Naruto asked as he sat down.

"Can you tell us what happened yesterday, in detail?" Sarutobi asked gently.

Naruto fell silent for some time, as he struggled to remember what had happened. The events were not very clear in his head. It was as if he had had a dream, and now that dream was slowly fading away.

"I … do not remember everything clearly. Some things are still a little hazy" he said a bit hesitantly.

The others just nodded, indicating that they wished him to continue.

Naruto took a deep breath. "After my fight with Sasuke, I was feeling extremely dizzy. I don't know why except that it was a side effect of the technique I used. Then Gaara went berserk and started attacking us. Shikamaru came up with a plan to defeat him. We were supposed to knock him off balance so that Lee could get in close enough to use Jiraya-sama's seal. I put everything I had in my attack, but Gaara got back up again. I must have hurt him because he ignored everyone else and came straight for me. I was out of chakra and terrified. I kept trying to pull more chakra, but my body wouldn't respond. Just as his sand reached me, I felt my body filling up with chakra, only … it felt … different. But at that time, Gaara's sand had reached me and I knew that if I didn't use that strange chakra, I would die, so I pulled on it. After that, my body seemed to react on its own. I'm afraid the rest is a little hazy. The last thing I remember before I passed out was Jiraya sama calling my name"

Silence reigned for a few minutes after he finished.

"Am I in trouble?" Naruto asked bluntly after the silence had stretched long enough.

Koharu spoke up before the others could open their mouth. "Had it been my decision, young Uzumaki, you would been put in stasis and sealed away miles underground surrounded with every kind of seal possible to prevent anything from getting in or getting out."

The others turned towards her, shock written all over their faces, but Koharu put up her hand to indicate she was not done speaking.

"You must understand Naruto, that I do not feel any ill-will towards you. But I will tell you this; the thing you hold inside gives me nightmares almost every day since I saw it. The Kyuubi is something akin to a force of nature, capable of wiping out entire nations with ease. The thought of it getting loose is something that terrifies me the most. I know Minato sealed it away using the most powerful and fool-proof sealing technique known, but he was still, a human. There might be a chance that the Kyuubi could get out on its own. Even if it could not, there are people who could circumvent that seal and let it loose for their own nefarious purposes. Gaara is a living example of the length that greedy leaders are willing to go to get power."

Koharu gave Naruto a few minutes to soak it all up before speaking again

"In case you are wondering why I am telling you all this, it is because you have displayed the right kind of intelligence and maturity that is required for you to handle this information without flying off the handle"

Naruto simply stared for a few seconds before saying. "So am I in trouble?"

Tsunade sighed. "We have received irrefutable proof of an organization named Akatsuki. It is made up of S-class criminals such as Uchiha Itachi, and their primary goal seems to be to collect all the tailed demons. In light of such information, you will be watched twenty-four hours by the ANBU from now on. You will also be barred from leaving the village, unless you are teamed up with at least two elite class jounins."

Jiraya noticed a flash of anger in Naruto's eyes. He knew how Naruto loved spending time alone in the forest, away from everyone.

Sarutobi spoke up. "Naruto, I know you are angry at our decision, but know that this is the only way we can think of protecting you. Orochimaru was once a member of their organization and he was amongst the weaker members. This should give you an idea of their strengths."

Naruto was angry indeed, but he was also rational enough to recognize their fears. _At least they didn't go along with the old bat's plan of locking me up_, he thought sourly.

As Naruto turned to leave, Koharu spoke up "Don't be too hard on Kakashi. He was acting on my orders"

Naruto froze for a moment, then nodded and went out.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Naruto left.

"I think he took it reasonable well" said Jiraya.

Kakashi sat on the stool, Sakura standing beside him, staring at the prone form of Uchiha Sasuke. He could still remember the gleam of insanity in Sasuke's eyes as he had rushed at Naruto, fully bent on killing him with the Chidori. He had taken Sasuke to train him personally only because he had been ordered to, not because they deemed Sasuke the superior student, but because they deemed him to be more dangerous. They had their doubts about his mental stability, which was why he had been ordered to train him in seclusion for a whole month. He had given it his best shot, but it now seemed that Sasuke's madness went far beyond what he had thought. It was strange how the Uchiha prodigy could succumb to madness so easily despite being loved and cherished by the whole village, while an orphan who was hated and feared by all had managed to keep his sanity intact

Ripples spread across the smooth surface of the lake as the stone skipped across it. Never before had Naruto felt so helpless before in his life. He had only one goal in his life, to go far, far away from Konoha, to a place where no one had heard of ninjas or demons, where he would be treated like a human being. Now he had been told that he would be kept under lock and key in this village, a place where he was feared and hated.

_I am like you now, fox, trapped for all eternity. Only death can deliver me from this prison, only death._


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 20 – Enter The Akatsuki

Sado Hanataro yawned. He was amongst the six ANBU who had got the morning shift to watch over Uzumaki Naruto. He understood the importance of guarding Naruto day and night, but that didn't stop him from getting bored, very bored. Right now, they were strung around a small section of the woods, keeping a watch for anything suspicious. Earlier in the morning, they had tried to keep a direct eye on him, till Naruto had acidly asked them if they got the jollies from watching someone take a leak. So, they had taken up positions from where they could not see Naruto, but could rush in immediately at the first hint of danger. It was mid afternoon and they had seen nothing out of the ordinary. Being new to the ANBU, Hanataro found guard duty quite boring, specially this assignment. After all, who in their right minds would try to kidnap a trained shinobi in the middle of a heavily guarded village?

Hyuuga Hiashi sat patiently on the stool while Neiji finished his meal. He had walked into his hospital room just as the nurse was about to set the tray. Neiji had tried to rise, but was stopped by a single gesture from Hiashi, who then sat down, indicating that he would wait till he had finished. Hiashi watched Neiji as he ate slowly. The poison Naruto had inflicted him with had simply paralyzed his muscles. With all the injuries from the invasion, the doctors had just given him the antidote and told him to rest for a few days while his system flushed out the toxins. As head of the Hyuuga clan, Hiashi was unarguably the most powerful Hyuuga alive, which meant that he was the expert on reading people's emotions. Neiji had radiated nothing but bitterness and hatred for the past few years. His eyes still shone with anger, but there was another emotion that Neiji had never felt before, confusion. Uzumaki Naruto, the boy with no parents, the boy with no clan, dead last in class, had defeated a Hyuuga prodigy, and had done so in terrifyingly easy fashion. From their birth, each Hyuuga was taught that their clan was the most superior to all clans. To lose to a non-Hyuuga was simply unthinkable, especially if you were the rookie of the year. Neiji finally finished his meal and put the tray on the bedside table, and looked up to face his uncle.

"Am I to be punished?" Neiji asked straight away.

Hiashi looked at him for a few seconds before speaking. "Why so you think you lost?"

Neiji's face scrunched up in confusion. "I … I don't know."

Hiashi sighed. "You lost because you let your hate for the main house blind you." He held up his hand to cut off Neiji off as he opened his mouth to speak. "I let you be after your father died, thinking that you had enough sense to snap out of this delusional hatred of the main house, but I was wrong. You became fatalistic to fuel your anger. Do you really think your father would have been pleased to see his son fall as low as to be defeated by an academy dead-last?"

Neiji's hands clenched at the mention of his father, but he said nothing.

Hiashi continued. "You are one of the most talented members of our clan in more than a hundred years, yet you lost and you lost embarrassingly, because you let your hatred blind you. Naruto, on the other hand, managed to keep his mind clear of such emotions. It was the sole reason why he beat the rookies of the year."

Neiji hung his head in shame. He had been told by his teammates on how he had defeated the Uchiha with ease.

Hiashi dusted his robes as he got up. "Naruto has been feared and hated by most of Konoha all his life, but that did not stop him from challenging his own destiny. Think about that. Also think about Uchiha Sasuke and what he has become, for letting hatred seep into his very bones." With that, he dropped an envelope on the bed and walked out.

Neiji sat for a long time, with his head in his hands, thinking about what his uncle had told him. After what seemed like hours, he slowly reached out for the envelope and opened it. His brows furrowed as a letter fell out. His eyes went wide as he recognized the handwriting. It was his father's! His hands trembled as he read.

_Dear Neiji._

_By the time you read this, I will be dead. …._

…

…

Lee charged at his opponent with all the speed he could muster and lashed out with a roundhouse kick. His opponent managed to duck out of the way, but not enough to avoid grazing Lee's foot. Lee smiled fiercely as he felt his foot graze his opponent, but the smile soon vanished as she disappeared soon after. He frantically whirled left and right, trying to feel her out. After a few seconds, he began to panic, and it was then he felt the cold point of a kunai pressing down on his throat. Sighing, Lee dropped his head in disappointment at being beaten so easily, again.

"Don't look so disappointed, Lee! You have tried to overcome all obstacles with your hard work. Just think of this one as another obstacle you must cross." Kurenai told Lee as she handed him a flask of water. The "obstacle" was training Lee to be able to at least detect low to possibly mid level genjutsus.

Lee nodded as he went towards where Tenten and Sakura were sitting, along with Gai and Kakashi. The three genin teams were here as part of a special project, pooling the talents of jounin teachers to create a bit better rounded ninjas. Gai was helping Sakura in taijustu and physical stamina. Kurenai was training Tenten and Lee in genjutsu. Kakashi was training everyone how to fight against a Sharingan wielder. Lee had been rendered completely useless during the invasion before being revived by Shikamaru due to being knocked out by a simple genjutsu, showing that despite his excellence in hand-to-hand combat, he could be neutralized very easily. Sakura had excellent chakra control and a flair for genjutsu, but physically she was too weak, making her a liability against opponents who were strong against genjutsu based attacks. Tenten was good with weapons, but her ability to fight at close quarters was abysmally low. Asuma would have been an ideal teacher for her for close quarter combat, but he was in the hospital, recovering from an overdose of aspirin. This was also why Ino and Chouji were not present that day. Hinata and Neiji were still recovering from their wounds, Sasuke was unconscious and Shikamaru and Naruto were busy with their chuunin lessons. It was ironic how the dead last and the one just above the dead-last managed to graduate to chuunin status, leaving everyone else behind.

Tsunade sighed with obvious relief as the last of the delegation from Suna left the council room. The whole meeting had gone much smoother than anyone had anticipated. They had underestimated the amount of devastation Suna had suffered during their ill-conceived invasion, during which they had lost not only a large number of good ninjas, but also their Kazekage and their greatest weapon, Gaara. The delegation had come fully prepared to ally Suna with Konoha. The meeting ended with Suna signing a declaration of unconditional support for Konoha forever, or at least till the next warmongering leader decided to break it. As the council started to break up, Sarutobi gave her a genuine smile as if to say "good job". For the first time in her life, Tsunade understood the full implications of what it meant to be Hokage (and why Jiraya wouldn't have made a good one). She had wanted to pound Suna into the dust. A few years ago, she would have done exactly that and to hell with the consequences. Instead, she had managed to see the meeting through with a calm that surprised even her. Konoha had gained a new ally, which would, in a few years time, regain its former strength. Neither side had been made to sign any concessions. Instead, they signed a lot of agreements on exchange programs which would end up benefiting both nations and foster more good will. Students from Suna would study medicine in Konoha, for the prowess of the Konoha medical department was near legendary. Any Konoha ninja with wind affinity would be sent to Suna, as there were wind masters aplenty there. There were many others like this. Both sides had recognized the root cause of the war, insecurity. The Kazekage had allied himself with Orochimaru because he felt insecure over his nations standing.

Sado Hanataro had to admit that Naruto was good, very good. He had not been present during his matches and thus was seeing him in action for the first time. While his overall skills were not great at this point, he had all the makings of an excellent ninja.

Jiraya watched as Naruto pulverized yet another boulder with that weird technique of his. Jiraya had turned up an hour ago, ready to teach Naruto the rasengan, but to his disappointment, he had refused. He was still as stubborn as a mule when it came to anything related to the fourth Hokage. Not wanting to antagonize him, he had instead offered to try and help him refine his 'originals'. To do that, he put up a barrier around a boulder and told Naruto to destroy it. He had then slowly upped the barrier strength, while refusing to let Naruto open the celestial gates. After half an hour, Naruto seemed to have hit a limit. Jiraya had then proceeded to smash through his own barrier with a well placed rasengan, hoping that it would make Naruto eager to learn it. All it did was trigger of a chain of new thoughts in Naruto's brain. He quickly figured out that the destructive potential of the rasengan, much like the chidori, lay in the fact that a lot of chakra was concentrated in a small place. In a few minutes, he had punched through Jiraya's barrier like it was paper by narrowing the chakra beam without lessening the amount he put into it.

"Let's take a break!" Jiraya said as noticed a slight shudder run down Naruto's legs.

Naruto nodded gratefully. He had managed to lessen the side effects of his technique by gathering more chakra than he released. This way, his body didn't have to go through the phase of a sudden decrease of chakra in his body. But that didn't eliminate it completely, and after a couple of dozen or so blasts, he was already feeling giddy. He knew that had he gone all out from the start, he would be unconscious at this point. He sighed ruefully as he realized that his techniques were really not something he could use in a one on one battle safely yet. Not everyone would come in rushing blindly like Sasuke.

Jiraya frowned as he went over their session. Naruto's technique, at full power, was easily one of the deadliest he had ever seen. To tell the truth, at his current speed, Naruto had more chances of hitting the enemy with his technique than with the rasengan. But the side effects made it a very dangerous technique for the user as well.

Suddenly, his eyes went wide with shock. He whirled around and launched a kunai at a raven sitting on the branch of a nearby tree. To everyone's shock, the raven shattered like glass, its pieces slowly disappearing.

Blood red eyes slowly opened and the figure stirred. His companion noticed this and got up.

"So do we charge in now?" he asked, smiling in anticipation.

Uchiha Itachi shook his head. "Our presence has been detected. By now, an alarm will have been sounded. The target is already being guarded by a team of ANBU and Jiraya. Also, I have been unable to detect any presence of the other target."

Kisame growled in frustration. It had taken them days to reach the outskirts of Konoha. Then he had had to wait till Itachi located the target. In short, Hoshikage Kisame was itching for a fight. Itachi stared at the village for a moment longer and then turned and started to walk away. Grumbling under his breath, Kisame followed a second later. Hours later, ANBU teams reported to the Hokage, saying that no trace of Uchiha Itachi had been found anywhere. The only thing they had found was a big boulder sliced into half.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 21 – Plans are made

"What news do you have on Sasuke?" hissed the man with a scowl on his face, his fingers tapping impatiently on the arms of the throne that had been created for him.

"Uchiha Sasuke is being kept under massive security and extreme secrecy. As for his condition, no one knows anything as it seems that the Hokage is the only one who checks in on him and the only people she tells are her advisors and the Sandaime Hokage. But it is safe to assume that Sasuke survived your seal, else the news of his death would have been told to the general populace." Kabuto kept his tone impassive as he answered, knowing very well that Orochimaru was still smarting over his humiliating defeat. Over sixty percent of the Sound forces had been wiped out and Konoha had barely suffered a scratch.

Orochimaru sat completely still as he digested this piece of information. So Sasuke had survived his seal. Still, there lay the problem of getting him to join him. After a few minutes, his gaze swiveled towards Kabuto. "I have a job for you …."

Yamanaka Inoichi groaned softly as he nursed the biggest headache in his life. He had spent the last one hour subtly sifting through the mind of Uchiha Sasuke and many times had to really fight the urge to run away. He had never seen such chaos and destruction in anyone's mindscape. After that horrendous ordeal, he was now stuck with another problem. How was he going to tell them that Uchiha Sasuke, last of the Uchiha's, wielder of the Sharingan was stark raving mad? By them, he meant the Konoha high council, composed of not only the Hokage and her advisors, but also the heads of the powerful clans and the leaders of various guilds, like the merchant guilds, blacksmith guilds, etc. He was not worried about the shinobi faction of the council. He was worried about the faction comprising of civilians. How he wished that the council did not have such members, but unfortunately, a village needed more than just ninjas to prosper. They needed farmers, merchants, blacksmiths, and weavers and so on. A strike by any guild could easily cause as much damage as a small war could. Even though the final authority on matters of security rested with the Hokage and her advisors, it was important for the stability of the village that the council members be kept happy, most of them anyway.

A tap on his shoulder made him whirl around quickly. He immediately regretted that action as all the demons of the underworld started hammering his head with extra large hammers.

Shizune smiled sympathetically on seeing the expression on Inoichi's face. "Please drink this Inoichi san", she said as she handed him a cup of tea mixed with medicinal herbs.

As Inoichi sipped the tea, the pain slowly began to fade. After about ten minutes, he no longer felt like cutting of his head and grafting a new one. The pain was still there, but it had receded to a dull throb, which he could easily bear. After all, the headaches he experienced when her daughter started 'vocalizing' were more severe. His thoughts drifted to his mother, who had been given the task of going through the head of Uzumaki Naruto.

Just then, the door opened to admit the weary and haggard looking form of the Yamanaka matriarch. He rushed to his feet, took her hand and guided her to the sofa, into which she sank gratefully. Inoichi started towards the door to summon Shizune, but before he had taken two steps, she appeared with another cup of the medicinal tea that she had given him a little while ago. She wordlessly placed the cup on a table beside the sofa, and started examining the old Yamanaka for any sign of wrongness. Inoichi stood tensed as he watched Shizune examine his mother. The reason his mother had been chosen to examine Naruto was because her skill as a mind walker was phenomenal. But, she was also an old woman who no longer healed as quickly as she did in her youth.

Shizune sighed in relief as she finished her examination. There was nothing wrong with the old lady physically except for exhaustion. She got up and turned to Inoichi. "There is nothing wrong with her that a few days in bed should not cure." The relief felt by Inoichi was evident on his face. "Ask her to drink the tea I have kept on the table and she should feel much better. I will inform the Hokage that both of you have finished your tasks". With that, Shizune walked away.

The room was built like a tomb. It had no windows. The only exit was a massive stone door. The whole room was covered with myriad seals, some of which were invisible to the naked eye. In the centre of the room sat the container of the one-tailed demon, Gaara. He was sitting naked and like the room, every inch of his body was covered with seals. In front of him sat the toad hermit, Jiraya.

_Flashback …………_

_Tears ran down the face of Temari as she begged for her brother's life. "Please spare my brother's life. He is not responsible for his actions." she sobbed heartrendingly. "He didn't ask to be made into a container. He didn't ask to be hated by everybody. He can't sleep because he is afraid of being taken over by his demon." Temari's voice cracked at this point and she fell to her knees, tears still streaming down her face like water from a broken faucet. __"Please …" she whispered._

_Tears came unbidden to Tsunade's eyes as she watched the young girl plead for her brother's life. It apparently made no difference to her that her brother regularly turned into a crazed blood thirsty psychopath who killed anyone he saw. Her thoughts turned towards the container of her village, Naruto. Both Gaara and Naruto had been shunned by their village. The only visible difference was that while the kage of Konoha had done everything in his power to shelter and protect Naruto, the kage of Suna had trained Gaara to be a killing machine, effectively destroying his mental stability. What made the matter worse was that Gaara was the Kazekage's own son. How differently would have Gaara turned out if the kazekage had been even a little like the Sandaime hokage? Logic dictated that she execute Gaara before he went on a rampage again, but the sight of Temari crying her heart out gave her pause. The kazekage was dead. The only family Gaara had left now consisted only of Temari and Kankuro. The Sandaime's kindness had prevented Naruto from going over the edge. Maybe the kindness of Temari and Kankuro, now that their father was dead, would bring Gaara back from the edge of madness. _

_End flashback …_

Jiraya hands started to flow through a long and complicated series of seals. After a few moments, the seals painted on the body of Gaara began to shimmer. Slowly, they started to flow like ink on an oily surface. All the seals on his body started to converge towards his navel and began to distort and form a new shape.

Gaara's mouth flew open in a silent scream as pain like nothing he had ever experienced flooded his body. The world in front of him exploded in a haze of red. He felt like countless red hot rods were being inserted and removed from his body again and again. The pain was so great that he couldn't even bring himself to scream. Just when he thought he couldn't take it any more, the pain vanished, and the shroud of red covering his vision began to dissipate.

Jiraya panted in exhaustion. The sealing procedure he had performed was extremely draining. He realized that if Tsunade had not given him that chakra infusion minutes before the sealing started, he would never have been able to complete the sealing. He got up with an effort, walked up to Gaara and sat down.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked the young jinchuuriki.

Gaara turned to face him. His face radiated confusion, and a slight hint of relief. "The voice is … gone." he said haltingly. A small part of him was relieved that the voice that continuously screamed for blood and death no longer screamed in the recesses of his mind. But mostly, he was confused, for he did not know what to do now. To a large extent, Shukaku had been the only companion for him, as everyone would turn away in fear or disgust when they saw him. For the first time in his life, he felt alone, truly alone. He flinched as Jiraya suddenly put his hand on his shoulder, but for some reason, he no longer felt the overwhelming urge to rip him apart. Now, the feeling of being touched by another human simply made him a tad uncomfortable. He had been led to believe that the sole purpose in his life was to kill. Now, even that feeling was gone. _What am I to do now?_ He wondered. _Without Shukaku, what is my purpose in life? _

The sound of the massive doors opening snapped him out of his reverie. His eyes narrowed as Temari stepped hesitantly into the room. On seeing her, Jiraya stood up and walked towards her. The young girl looked at Jiraya expectantly as he approached her. "It is done" he said as he reached out and softly squeezed her shoulder. Then he walked out of the room to give the siblings some privacy.

Gaara watched warily as he Temari slowly approached him. Of all the people in Suna, he tolerated Temari only because she was the only person who did not look at him with fear or hatred. What was she doing here anyway? He continued to watch warily as Temari knelt before him. Then suddenly, she lunged at him. Gaara was completely taken by surprise. This room had no sand so his automatic defenses also would not work. Just as he was about to grab Temari's arms, he felt something warm running down his back. It was then that he felt Temari shake and heard her sobs. _Is she … crying? _Realization hit him like a load of bricks. Temari wasn't attacking him! She was hugging him!

"I'm sorry … I'm so sorry …" sobbed Temari, overcome by her emotions. Gaara did not know what to do. There was someone who was actually crying for him! Slowly, he reached out and hugged her back, though a little stiffly. A little while ago, he was alone and bereft of any purpose in life. Now, he was no longer utterly alone. As brother and sister held each other in their arms, Gaara knew what his purpose in life would be. He would protect Temari forever, no matter what the cost.

The rookie 9, along with the team of Maito Gai, was sitting in a nice shady clearing, Hanabi tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn as she nestled peacefully in the crook of Hinata's arms. Hinata smiled as she watched her younger sister trying to stay awake. Not that she blamed her. This morning, the training grounds had been converted to a large picnic spot, with the rookie 9, Tenten, Neiji, Lee, the teachers of the respective teams and all the parents of the youngsters deciding to take a break and have a little fun. The hit of the party had been the erstwhile Hokage, who had joined the party in between and had proceeded to enjoy himself with gusto. The food had entirely come from the kitchens of the Akamichi household, and the taste had been incredible. Little Hanabi had eaten more than she ever had in one meal. Combined with the pleasant breeze and the shade of the trees, she was feeling sleepy. She looked over to her right where Neiji sat, talking with Shino. Something had changed with Neiji after the examinations. Though he was still poker faced and talked mostly in monosyllables, the aura of coldness surrounding him had disappeared. Neiji wasn't the only one who had displayed signs of change after the finals. The heated rivalry between Sakura and Ino had seemed to lessen. Of course, they still bickered a lot, but it was more in the nature of two close friends bantering with each other. Also, the main topic of discussion no longer happened to be Sasuke, or any other boy for that matter. _It's about time they grew up_, Hinata thought. Her eyes then drifted to the branch where Naruto lay dozing. Off all her classmates, he was the most difficult to read. From what she has seen during the party, she had deduced that Naruto was not very comfortable around people. It had been almost funny to see the obvious pains he had taken to avoid any sort of contact with her father. He reminded her of a bear, an animal that liked to stay alone. He resembled the bear not only in its solitary nature, but also for the power it represented. She recalled the devastating ease with which he had taken out Neiji during the final round. _Who are you really, Naruto? Why do you shy away from people? What is your secret?_

Uchiha Itachi and Hoshikage Kisame stood patiently in the centre of the mammoth cavern. After nearly three hours, the shape of a creature resembling a cross between a human and a Venus flytrap began to emerge from the ceiling. This was Zetsu, the only Akatsuki member who worked alone. Slowly, the other members started to filter in one by one. Soon, all nine of the Akatsuki were standing in the cavern in a circle. In the centre of the circle, appeared the image of a cloaked figure. The only feature that was visible was the eyes, two deep red slits in the cowl on the hood covering its features.

"Report!" said the hooded figure, in a voice that sounded like it was coming from a bottomless well.

Itachi stepped forward. "The container of the nine-tails is being heavily guarded by ANBU and the toad hermit, Jiraya. Extracting him now would take around five to six of us. Also, the container of the one-tailed raccoon was also being guarded in a heavily sealed facility. My presence was discovered before I could pin-point his exact location."

As Itachi stepped back, an effeminate, blond man stepped forward. "We were unable to locate the container of the two tails. Our investigation revealed that the Kage took the container into hiding after news of the invasion of Konoha reached him. Apparently, he does not wish to reveal his 'ace' yet."

After hearing the two reports, the figure's eyes changed from a bright red to a deep-dark red that seemed to radiate pure fury. Even Itachi flinched involuntarily as his anger flooded the room.

"Find Orochimaru and destroy him completely. That snake has interfered with our goals for the last time1" The figure hissed before vanishing.

For a long time, no one moved a muscle. Then a man carrying a scythe said to no-one in particular. "Any ideas as to how we track him down?" Everyone knew how slippery Orochimaru was. That he was able to raise a village without anyone getting even a whiff of him was testament to his sneakiness.

Finally, it was Itachi who spoke. "It seems that Orochimaru is interested in my brother. If we keep a watch on him, he will lead us to that snake."

The others nodded. The reason Orochimaru had left their organization was because he had been soundly trashed by Itachi after the former had tried to steal his eyes. Since Sasuke was the only living Uchiha left, it was logical that Orochimaru would go after him. Yes, they would watch Sasuke closely, and when he led them straight to the snake, they would destroy him completely.

"Is everything in order?"

"Yes".

Tsunade glanced at the reports at her table. "Hopefully, we will know the identity of the 'mole'."

Danzo's smile was feral. "The members of ROOT are trained for such purposes." With that, he got up and started to leave. As he reached the door, he turned around to see the Hokage pull out a flask of sake from her desk. "I still say it is too dangerous to let him live." Without waiting for a reply, he exited the room.

"Don't I know that!" Tsunade muttered bitterly as she took a swig from her flask.


	23. Chapter 23

First of all, I wish to thank all the people who have read and reviewd my story. It really makes me happy whenever I see those "good story" or "you need to correct so and so ...". I also must apologize on the slow pace of updates, but I am swamped with work and get little time to sit and think of a plot. Also, some poeple haev complained that my chapters are short. Believe me, I would love to sit and write bigger chapters, but as I said, I have a really big workload, so I try to put some of my ideas on paper whenever I have a little free time and post them, hence the short chapters. Finally, please continue to read and review and thanks once again

* * *

Chapter 22: Hook, line and sinker

The wind howled and shrieked. Raindrops the size of grapes pelted the land. Thunder roared every few minutes. It had been like this for the past three days. He was grateful that he was in the library, deep underground and away from the incessant rattling caused by the raindrops pelting the monastery's roof. Luckily for them, the storm had hit them the day after their monthly supplies had been delivered, otherwise they would all be starving by now. A small couch broke him out of his reverie.

"I think I've found what you are looking for!" exclaimed Brother Jeremy. Brother Jeremy was the official keeper of records in the monastery. Jeremy was a loner by nature since he had to spend so much time in the library and had been thrilled when he had asked his help in locating some information.

"Thank you very much, Brother Jeremy", he said as he took the heavy tome from him. As he scanned through the first few pages, he had to employ every ounce of his will power to start shouting with joy. After years of searching, he had finally found a link. Wearing a thousand watt smile, he turned to Brother Jeremy. "Thank you so much Brother. This is what I was looking for".

Jeremy blushed. "Please, think nothing of it. I am more than happy to help out historians such as you."

He laughed. "You are really too modest. Just to show how much I appreciate your help, I am giving you this." He pushed a key and a scroll towards Brother Jeremy.

Brother Jeremy's eyes became as wide as saucer plates when he opened the scroll. "This … this …" he stammered.

"This key will unlock the cupboard where I store my stock of Valashian wine. Why don't you go upstairs, pour yourself a glass and enjoy the scroll"

Brother Jeremy needed no further encouragement as he grabbed the key and skipped out of the room. He chuckled as he watched the frail lore master skipping away like a child with a treat. Then he turned back to the tome. _After all these years of searching, I finally have the knowledge I so desperately needed_. Two comma like marks appeared in his eyes as he started scanning the tome page by page.  
..  
..

Kankuro smiled as he watched the children shriek with delight as he deftly manipulated his puppets to make the story of "The Princess and the Moon" come alive. Watching the children's face light up with joy gave him a warm feeling inside, a feeling he rarely experienced. All his life he had been under the iron fist of his father and the terror of his psychopath brother. The general populace of Suna avoided him because of his 'family'. That rarely gave him any opportunities to make friends. One of the reasons he had become a puppeteer was to stave of his loneliness. The irony of his situation made him laugh. Back in his village, he was a member of the most powerful family, but he was never happy. Here, he was little more than a prisoner of war, but he was very happy. Perhaps he could convince the Hokage to let him stay here and open a theatre where he would stage the most magnificent puppet shows anyone had ever seen.  
..  
..

Naruto absentmindedly chewed on the piece of roast beef. He had been trying for days to produce clones that would be able to take more punishment, but none of his experiments had even remotely succeeded. _What am I doing wrong?_ He wondered for the umpteenth time. He had considered asking Sarutobi or Jiraya for help, but had discarded the idea. Asking anyone for help in this area would raise suspicions. As it was, he was under a lot of suspicion because they did not know the full extent of his abilities. A polite cough shook him out of his thoughts.

"Don't you like the food, Naruto?" asked Kakashi, who had been watching Naruto sit at the table with a faraway look on his face, chewing the same piece of food for the past few minutes.

Naruto had the grace to look a little embarrassed. "Just thinking, sensei".

Kakashi had taken his team (sans Sasuke) to a restaurant, mainly to try and introduce Naruto to the concept of socialization. Having seen Sasuke fall into the abyss of madness, he could not let another one of his students suffer a similar fate. The report from the Yamanakas had really shocked him.

"Soooo Naruto, do you have any hobbies?" asked Sakura.

_Yes. Staying alive, _he thought. "Star gazing" was what he said.

"You mean to say you spend your evenings gazing at a bunch of twinkles!!" Sakura was shocked to say the least. "I swear, you are just as bad as Shikamaru"

Naruto merely grunted in response and went back to his food. He had to admit that the food was good, especially after living most of his life on food that had simply been roasted over a fire. It brought back some fond memories of the ramen stand he used to frequent as a small child, where the smiles from the stand owners were as gratifying as the food. Unfortunately, he had also realized that the only reason he was eating in this place was because he had come with his sensei. He could see them all; faces that quickly turned away when they came near his table, handkerchiefs rose to mouths as if to ward of some bad smell, eyes that seemed to shriek their hatred.  
..  
..  
..

The night was clear, with the moon shining in all its glory. A brief spell of rain earlier in the day had had all the frogs and insects trumpeting away their mating calls. A soothing cool breeze was blowing through the village. In short, it was a glorious night, a night made for happy thoughts, for a nice stroll with your sweetheart, a night where a person could easily forget his troubles. But all this was lost on Uchiha Sasuke as he knelt before the massive memorial stone in the Uchiha compound. He had been released earlier in the day after the Hokage had deemed it 'safe' for him to be out. Of course, he had been given an ANBU escort. His thoughts were as black as the blackest part of the underground cave which has not seen light for ages. He had lost! He had lost to the dead last of the academy, the one who had failed thrice before barely graduating! He had been helpless when they had been attacked by the sand freak! He would never be able to beat Itachi at this rate. _You must hate me, brother._ His mocking laughter still echoed everyday in his mind. Hate! He reached within himself to find even the tiniest spark of hatred, but instead found only the blackest despair.

So lost was Sasuke in his black mood that he did not notice a small black tendril snaking towards him. It was only when he felt something slither up his arm that he realized that a snake had crawled up his arm. The old Sasuke would have beheaded the snake in an instant. But now, he was sick, physically and mentally. Maybe the snake would put him out of his misery.

"Sssassuke …."

His eyes went wide open.

"Lisssten to me Sssassuke …."

There was that voice again. It didn't sound like anything human. Who was it? Was he hallucinating? Was he really going mad?

"You are not imagining anything, Sssassuke ..."

The snake! The voice was coming from the snake. But that was impossible!

"Nothing isss imposssssible for me, Sssassuke …."

"Who are you?" he whispered harshly, his heart hammering in his chest.

As soon as he asked that question, a part on his left shoulder began to throb wildly. He gasped involuntarily as images began to flood his brain. In his mind, he saw a massive room. In the room was a throne where a figure sat. The figure radiated power, power like he had never felt before. Without knowing why, he knew who the figure was.

"Orochimaru …" he whispered softly.

The figure chuckled. "A shame you lost in the exams, Sasuke!"

Sasuke said nothing, but dropped his head in shame.

"I can give you the power you desire, the power to kill Itachi"

Sasuke said nothing for a few minutes as his ninja training started to reassert itself.

"You couldn't beat an old man well past his prime and you expect me to believe that you can give me the power to beat Itachi!"

Orochimaru's eyes flashed crimson for a second, but the next instant the smile was back on his face. "The snake that bit you back then injected the heaven seal on your shoulder. Activating that seal gives the user massive power boosts for short periods"

Sasuke's right hand trailed over to his left shoulder where he had seen that strange mark, that was surrounded by even stranger marks.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in understanding. "Ah! Jiraya must have sealed it while you were unconscious. "

"What good is it if it can be sealed away by some doddering old fool!"

Orochimaru hissed in anger "Do not underestimate Jiraya, boy. He may look old and foolish, but he is neither. Even Itachi would think twice before facing him in open combat. Had he not sealed it away, you could have experienced first hand the power that this seal could give you, and that too, at the first stage"

Sasuke snorted. "If that is the case, then why did you not use the seal?"

Orochimaru laughed. "I could sit here for weeks telling you all about genetics and enzymes and still you wouldn't understand anything. Let's say that the seal is fatal for a lot of people, including me."

Sasuke stayed silent for a long time.

"What do you want in return? Do not expect me to believe that this power will come for free"

Orochimaru laughed. "Straight to the point! Very well, the payment I desire is the Sharingan" As Sasuke opened his mouth in outrage, he lifted a hand to forestall him. "I do not mean to take your eyes from you. I only want to make an extensive study so I can replicate them."

A part of Sasuke blazed with anger at the very thought of someone trying to replicate the bloodline limit of his clan. But that part of him was a small part. The larger part started to find this arrangement quite satisfactory. As long as he got to finish Itachi, why not! He would do anything for power, including sell his soul to the devil.

"You'll have to get me out. I cannot leave the village"

Orochimaru smiled. "Keep the snake with you. Through it I will contact you when the time is right."

Sasuke gasped as his vision blurred and he found himself back at the Uchiha compound. He blinked a few times to get rid of the spots before his eyes. Had he been dreaming or had he really talked to Orochimaru just now? A slight rustling in front of him revealed a small white snake that stared at him purposefully.

The room echoed with his laughter. Kabuto pushed his glasses up on his nose "I take it you were able to convince Sasuke?"

Orochimaru chuckled "Yes, he was convinced; hook, line and sinker"  
..  
..  
..

Tsunade was enjoying a relatively peaceful evening with Sarutobi, when Shizune admitted in Naruto.

"Hello Naruto" Tsunade said pleasantly. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Well … I wish to get some training in medical ninjutsu"

Tsunade waved her hand to indicate that he should seat himself.

"Why would you want to learn medical ninjutsu? I thought the kyuubi took care of healing all sorts of wounds?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Ummm … it's actually for offensive purposes"

Tsunade frowned at that. She was not a big fan of using medical ninjutsu for killing.

Sarutobi blew a ring of smoke through his mouth. "Could you be a little more specific?"

Naruto nodded. "As you know, the only known user to use Mokuton jutsus was the Shodaime hokage. Attempts at recreating it have failed because the user must be strongly aligned to two elements."

Shizune frowned. "I fail to see what that has to do with your request."

"I wish to learn the process of cell regeneration."

Silence met his announcement. It was Sarutobi who finally spoke "You mean to say that you wish to use cell regeneration to replicate the Shodaime's Mokuton jutsus?"

Tsuande scoffed "Don't be ridiculous. You can't simply force trees to grow at that rapid a pace by using cell regeneration. Why, the amount of chakra needed would be …" she trailed of as she realized why Naruto had approached her with this request.

Naruto smiled as he saw that she had got his point. "So, will you teach me?"

Tsunade nodded. "Shizune will teach you the basics. I will take over after you have mastered them."

That done, the conversation then drifted to mundane topics, like his team, training, etc. After about half an hour, Naruto left the mansion.

_Hook, line and sinker! _He chuckled as he made his way back home.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 23

Chapter 23: The report

Hatake Kakashi sat under the shade of a tree as he watched Sakura and Naruto spar. To a casual observer, it would seem that the jounin was bored and half-asleep. The reality was that for once, Kakashi was watching Naruto very, very closely.

…………………………………………………

_The day before…_

"… and that concludes my report on the mental state of Uchiha Sasuke." Yamanaka Inoichi said as he looked up from the paper he had been reading. Kakashi buried his head in his hands. The others sitting in the room sent him looks of sympathy. They knew that Kakashi had tried his best, even going as far as to openly favor Sasuke and ignore his teammates. The mental trauma of being put under the Tsukuyomi, his obsession with power and his recent loss to Naruto had pushed him over the edge.

Kakashi looked over to Ibiki. "Is there any chance we might get Sasuke back to normal soon?"

The reason Ibiki had been called to this meeting was because, as the head of the interrogation unit, he had plenty of experience with torture victims. He had seen brave men reduced to mewling infants, drooling vegetables once they were broken. The Tsukuyomi was, in a sense, a form of severe torture, and the result was there for all to see. Sasuke had snapped.

Ibiki shook his head. "Not as long as Itachi is alive. He lives for the sole purpose of killing Itachi"

Silence reigned for a few minutes as the people present pondered over this.

Then Genma spoke up "Can't we brainwash him or something?"

Inoichi shook his head "I considered that option. Sasuke's mind is too chaotic to try and play around with his memories. Even if I were to succeed in doing so, one wrong word from someone would destroy the brainwashing."

A murmur spread through the people in the room as they discussed in hushed tones this new development. Many were sympathetic towards Sasuke and had hoped for better news. After a few minutes, one of them asked what everyone had been thinking.

"Hokage sama, what you have decided?"

Everyone fell quiet as they looked at Tsunade expectantly.

Tsunade sighed as she saw everyone looking at her hopefully. Even though she had no love for Sasuke, she was a healer, and it pained her to admit that Sasuke seemed beyond her healing powers.

"I have decided to put Sasuke on a regimen of therapy and medicines. They won't cure him but they will keep him from going berserk. Maybe in time, we can find a permanent solution for him".

Unhappy looks were exchanged all around at this announcement, but they knew better than to protest. Tsunade was not only the Hokage, but also the best known medic in the world.

"Sasuke will have to be guarded constantly. He will, without a shred of doubt, try to leave the village or do something equally rash and dangerous to try and obtain power." Ibiki intoned in a dry voice.

"That has already been taken care of" said Tsunade.

At that point, Aburame Shibi (A.N: I think this is the name of Shino's father, but I am not sure) spoke up "I would like to hear your views concerning Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage sama."

A wry smile appeared on her face "I was wondering when someone was going to ask me that"

"Yamanaka san", she gestured.

The elderly Yamanaka nodded and got to her feet. She looked around the room, seeing all the faces of the people staring intently at her. _How troublesome…_

"I'll skip the technical jargon so as not to bore you. The summary of my findings is that Naruto is not crazy, he is not a threat"

At this point, people began to relax. At least they wouldn't have to worry about the vessel of the demon to go berserk.

"But…"

Everyone sat straight up again.

"He will try to leave the village the first chance he gets." She sighed "Of all the things in his mind, this was the most visible, because his desire to leave the village is extremely strong"

"But why would he want to do such an un-youthful thing?" asked a perplexed Gai.

She smiled sadly "Naruto wants to go far, far away, to a place where there are no ninjas, where they have never heard of the Kyuubi, or any other demon for that matter. He wants to go to a place where he will be treated like a normal human being, where he will not be shunned."

She shook her head. "All these years of veiled hostility and scorn have made him extremely jumpy and suspicious. He trusts no one on this village, except for the Sandaime."

"But surely things can't be as bad as you make them out! The Sandaime's law forbade people from talking about his… condition or acting upon it" someone said.

"Bah! The Sandaime's law prevented the people from showing their hostility openly, but did not stop them from ostracizing him completely. Did you know that he preferred sleeping in the forest, whatever the weather is so that he does not have to go into the village!"

The expressions of shock and disbelief in the room all around said it all.

She shook her head. "That child has been living of the forest for the last many years. He will not eat food that has been cooked by anyone else because he suspects poison. The only reason he is so darn good at stealth is because he was forced to be stealthy to avoid detection by the villagers!"

She paused to look at Kakashi "Your refusal to train him for the finals really hurt him, you know?"

Kakashi tried to protest, but she forestalled him.

"Yes, yes. You were under orders. I know it is not your fault." A small smile crossed her lips. "But that doesn't prevent him from having dreams where he ties you up and burns your 'literature' right in front of your eyes while you beg for mercy"

Jiraya looked appalled at that, while Kakashi turned white. Kurenai, Anko and the other female jounins laughed at their expressions.

Then Hyuuga Hiashi chose to speak up. "So the question remains. What are we to do with him?"

This time Tsunade spoke up "We are going to try our best to ensure that he doesn't run off. I don't want him to leave the village only to run into the waiting arms of the Akatsuki or something similar. Yamanaka san as confirmed that Naruto is not a threat to us. Let us ensure that he remains that way by not giving him any more reasons to leave the village"

With that, she stood up, indicating that the meeting was over.

After everyone had left, Tsunade turned to Koharu. "Has the council of Suna accepted our proposal?"

Koharu nodded. "Yes. Furthermore, they have requested that his siblings stay here with him. Apparently tempers are running high among the civilians there and the members of the former Kazekage's family would not find themselves welcome there at this moment."

Tsunade grinned "Good. It will be easier to convince Gaara to stay here if he has his family with him"

She then turned to Jiraya. "I want all the information on the Akatsuki that you have; every single bit. I will present this information in the next council to try and come up with a defense system that will alert us to any of their members even before they enter our village. And find out a way to deal with Itachi's sharingan. Do whatever you have to, I don't care if you turn the Uchiha compound upside down, but come up with something to counter his Mangekyou."

Jiraya nodded as he left the room.

…………………………………………………

_Back to the present…_

Sakura leapt back to give herself some room and flung two windmill shurikens at Naruto. Naruto jumped to his right to dodge them. Just then, the shadows split apart to reveal another pair heading to his right. Normally, Naruto would have dodged them, but due to his late night experiments and over-use of his shadow clones, his mind and body refused to work together and he stumbled.

Sakura screamed as she saw Naruto stumble, knowing very well that he would not be able to avoid the shurikens. Time seemed to slow down for Naruto as he watched the twin shurikens inching closer and closer towards his body.

_This is going to hurt pretty bad_ were his thoughts as he braced himself for a world of pain. Then suddenly, the world went dark.

He blinked a few times to make sure his eyes were all right. Then he noticed the absence of pain. _Did I kick the bucket already?_

Just as suddenly, light returned. In front of him stood Sakura, trembling with what could only be described as terror. A little to her right stood Kakashi, his shoulders slumped in relief. _Hmmm… so I am not dead. _It was then he noticed the sand all around him, and the two shurikens half covered by sand.

"Are you … okay?" asked a voice hesitantly.

He slowly turned to see a most unexpected sight; Gaara. A little ways behind him stood Shikamaru and the kunoichi from sand … Temari. A little shudder ran through his body as he felt the Kyuubi rumble disconsolately in his cage.

"Yes. Thanks for your help" he answered, seeing that Gaara was expecting an answer. He looked at him carefully. His eyes were still rimmed and a little bloodshot, but there was no hint of the madness that was so evident during the chuunin exams.

He looked back as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's call it a day. It's obvious that you are very tired" Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded, too glad for the break to protest.

Kakashi then walked away, after managing to convince the terrified Sakura that the incident was an accident and she was not at fault.

After Kakashi left, the teenagers stared at each other without saying anything. After sometime, the silence began to get awkward.

"So, what brings you guys out here?" asked Sakura, feeling a little discomfited by the awkward silence and specially at the sight of the two Sand ninjas.

Shikamaru yawned. "She was bored and wanted to see the sights and sounds of Konoha." motioning towards Temari. "So troublesome ..."

Temari merely rolled her eyes at that. From what little time she had spent with Shikamaru, everything seemed to be 'troublesome', except being lazy. She couldn't believe that she almost lost to this guy.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle. Here was a deadly sand kunoichi and her homicidal brother, and all that Shikamaru could say is 'troublesome'.

…..

Naruto went flying backwards as his opponent delivered a chakra enhanced punch. Before he could recover, three shurikens hit in the arms and legs. As blood began to flow from the wound, he started to tremble. He took five steps towards his assailant before he vanished in a shower of shower of blood.

"What's the duration this time?" asked Naruto.

"10.3 seconds!" said Naruto, while a dozen Narutos furiously made notes on the battle that had just happened.

"Hmm… The loss of blood seems to destabilize it"

"Maybe we can pour in more blood next time"

"Maybe add some bone as well"

"He needs to dodge better"

"The purpose is to see if he can take hits!!"

A chorus of suggestions rose up from the clones that had finished making their notes.

One of them raised a hand for silence. "Let's call it a day. We need to put all the information together and hope we can improve the stability."

Everyone nodded and then began to disappear in puffs of smoke.

…….

The ground parted to reveal a giant Venus flytrap. Zetsu has been trying to locate one of Orochimaru's bases and had finally gotten wind of Kabuto. He had to admit that the base had been hidden almost perfectly. It was only by accident that he had spotted Kabuto and followed him here; else he could have searched for months and still not found this place.

_One down. I hope the others are having similar luck in finding the snake's holes._

The flytrap sank back into the ground, leaving no trace of ever having been there.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 24:

Chapter 24:The Beginning …

Sasuke sat brooding in his room, his mood as black as the night outside. It has been three whole months since he had been released from the hospital, since Orochimaru had contacted him. Every day it was the same, go to the psychiatrist, take his medicines and then find ways to pass the time. Kakashi and Sakura had visited him a few times, but that was all the contact he had with the outside world. The Hokage had put him under probation.

_I am being treated like some sort of dangerous animal, while that blond freak roams around freely_.

He knew about the Kyuubi, for Orochimaru had told him about the 'source of Naruto's power'.

He wanted to escape, to go to Orochimaru, but he knew he could not, even after the ANBU guard had been relaxed. The medicines he was being given also had the effect of messing up his chakra control. He would not be able to take more than a few steps outside the village before he got caught. He knew very well what the Hokage would do to him if such a thing were to happen. Galling as it might be, he had no choice but to leave everything to Orochimaru for now.

He jerked as pain flared on his arm. _Orochimaru…_

"So, young Sasuke, it seems that the ANBU escort has been removed!" came the hissing voice.

"No thanks to you!" Sasuke grumbled.

"Ah! The impatience of youth!" Orochimaru chuckled.

Sasuke's temper, already frayed, snapped. "Is there a point to this conversation or have you simply contacted me to gloat!"

"I have made arrangements for you to leave the village"

At that, Sasuke sat up straight.

"Exactly 100 days from now, an opportunity will be presented for you to escape. Other than that, I will not tell you more right now"

"100 days!!"

"Yes. 100 days! During that time I will teach you how to get rid of the drugs in your body and how to weaken Jiraya's seal"

Sasuke scoffed. "Why will it take 100 days to get rid of a stupid seal? Are you that scared of that old man?"

Pain seared Sasuke's body, making those few moments seem like hours.

"Do not seek to question me, boy! I will do as I deem fit" hissed a now angry Orochimaru.

"I've told you before. There is no one in the world that comes close to matching Jiraya's talent in seals. Any haste on your part will alert him and then you will be spending the rest of your life in the Konoha dungeons. Even your _brother_ gives him a wide berth."

Sasuke could only nod as he fought through the haze of pain.

"We will start your training tomorrow" Orochimaru's presence vanished from his mind.

Sasuke clenched his fists to stop his trembling. _I will be servile, for now. Then you will be the first one to die, Orochimaru._

He began to laugh, softly at first. Soon, he was cackling like a madman, his laughter echoing in the dark halls of the Uchiha manor.

……………………….

"No, no, no! That is not the way you do it!" Temari stormed as Naruto fumbled the jutsu yet again. Naruto looked decidedly unhappy as he scratched the back of his head.

Temari sighed. She grabbed his hand and started walking towards a patch of shade.

"Sit!" she commanded as she pushed him, making him fall. Then she plonked right down beside him.

"Look Naruto! I understand your reasons for playing dumb, but you do not need to pretend around me."

Naruto glanced sharply at her. He looked into her eyes and found only pity and understanding.

Temari sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Back in my village, everyone knows what Gaara is. People were openly hostile to him till he started killing. There were no retributions for the killings, for our father was the Kazekage, but we were feared, shunned."

Temari paused for a while. "Kankuro took to puppets because few children wanted to associate him. I buried myself in my training. I found that focusing my mind only on combat helped me forget about my troubles."

She chuckled "You know, when I see Sakura and Ino sitting together and discussing boys, I feel jealous. That part of life was denied to me. I didn't have any girl friends with whom I could gossip. Even if I had, boys were too afraid to approach me because of Gaara."

Temari then rested her gaze on him "You see, I know very well the life a jinchuuriki has to lead. Gaara kept the hostility at bay by becoming a crazed killer. You seek to keep the hostility away by playing the role of a bungling idiot. But do you really need to pretend? You have people who genuinely like you. I've seen your Sandaime and Jiraya look at you as if you were there precious grandkid."

Naruto sat silent for a long time.

"There are many … who would do all in their power … to see me dead if I were to appear powerful in any way" he spoke haltingly.

He stiffened when he felt Temari's arm drape around his shoulder.

"I know" she said sadly. "And that's why you should try even harder to increase your power. Sooner or later people will realize that you are not as dumb as you look and then they will come after you. You have kept up this act for so long that a part of your subconscious now believes it as this is slowing down your progress"

Naruto looked at Temari's face. Was she really so different from him? She was ostracized for something that was beyond her control, so she understood how he felt. He sighed. The truth was that he was getting tired of pretending that he was slow, tired of sneaking around, hiding his skills. Maybe, just maybe, he could let go in front of her for a change.

He also realized something else. Temari was lonely and was looking to make friends. Even here people were a little wary of her for the same reasons people were afraid of her back in Suna. He thought back to all the times she had gone out of her way to be with him, asking him to help her with her shopping, inviting him to dinner with her brothers, and even volunteering to teach him wind techniques once Kakashi found out that his affinity was wind.

Naruto got up; pushing all thoughts out of his mind except for the instructions Temari had given him for the jutsu. Summoning his chakra, he went through the hand seals required for the jutsu. The log in front of him immediately split into chunks. The edges were jagged, not smooth like when Temari had performed the jutsu, but that would come with time.

He looked around as Temari squeezed his shoulder. He saw gratitude in her eyes, along with happiness. He managed a small smile.

"That wasn't so hard, was it now!" chirped Temari.

Naruto shook his head, knowing very well that she was referring to more than just the jutsu.

………………..

High above the ground, Diedra flew on his giant clay bird, scanning the ground for anything that looked like a base. His clones were doing the same, each one searching a designated area around fifty square miles. His partner, Sasori was waiting down on the ground as he could not cover so much ground. Their spies had reported seeing Kabuto in this area, but so far, he had seen nothing that even remotely resembled a base.

_Maybe I should just do some kabooms in this area .That would shake out some snakes. _ He grinned wildly at the thought of blowing up the whole desert using one of his 'creations'.

After four hours of flying, Diedra was tired and grumpy. It didn't help that he was out in the desert in the middle of summer. He was just about to give up when he spotted something that didn't look like it was part of the natural scenery. He glided down to the spot slowly, keeping an eye out for any possible danger.

As he approached the place, he saw that it was a body, of what only God knew. It was half buried in the sand, but it was clearly not human, or any other animal he had seen. He repressed a shudder at the sight.

Ten minutes later, Sasori arrived, riding the clay bird that Diedra had sent to fetch him. After he alighted, he walked over to the body and stared at it for a few minutes.

"This looks like one of Orochimaru's experiments"

Diedra raised his eyebrows. If this was one of Orochimaru's experiments, it would mean that his base was somewhere near.

"I feel this body was meant to be found", Sasori spoke, as if sensing his partner's thoughts.

"What do you mean, meant to be found!" stormed an irate Diedra. "I bust my ass for hours trying to get a clue"

Sasori shook his head. "I think it is no coincidence that for years we find no trace of him and suddenly, he stumble upon not one, but three of his bases. I believe that we are being set up"

………………

As Tsunade watched the streets below from the window, she smiled. Temari and Naruto had apparently been to some shops and by the looks of some of the packages, not all were groceries.

"I told you it would work" grinned Jiraya as he stood beside her. For once, Tsunade did not feel the urge to beat him up for sneaking up on her.

"Indeed. It appears your guess was right no the mark, Jiraya" said the Sandaime from where he sat, puffing away contently on his pipe. Since he had surrendered the helm to Tsunade, he looked at least a few years younger and the permanent lines of worry that had creased his forehead had lessened. Most of all, he felt as if a terrible burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Tsunade smiled. "Yes. It will be good for Naruto to have some real friends for a change. But tell me, how were you so sure that it would work out?"

"Naruto is afraid of socializing mainly because he fears what his peers' reactions would be if they knew what he carried in him. He would rather be on cordial terms than be hated even more. I figured that if anyone had a chance of getting close to Naruto, it would have to be someone who understood fully what the life a a jinchuuriki is all about and who saw what they truly were, sacrifices and not demons."

The others nodded. Sandaim looked at Jiraya with gratitude in his eyes. For years, he had been weighed down with the terrible guilt that he had failed to protect Naruto. Now, it seemed that Naruto had a chance at living a normal life like everyone else.

…………

Naruto woke as a hand shook him.

"What is it?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"We've completed phase one. But there will be some difficulties for phase two."

All sleep fled at that statement.

"There are pockets of kikachu bugs all around the village, extending two miles in radius. While avoiding the kiakchu is not very difficult, there is the problem of Jiraya's sensors."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What sensors?"

"He has put up some sort of a sensory net that will alert him to any sort of intrusions with large chakra reserves. We barely noticed it."

"Damn!" Naruto cursed softly. Bypassing Jiraya's sensors was not going to be easy.

"But tell me something, do we really need it now?"

Naruto stared at him blankly "What do you mean?"

"Do we really have to leave? All you ever wanted was a normal life. I believe you can have that now, with Temari …"

Naruto put up his hand, cutting him off. "She is all the more reason we have to leave. Currently, she is merely viewed with suspicion, being a Sand kunoichi. In time, she will be hated if people see us together all the time. She is the first person, after the Sandaime, whom I can call a friend. I will not allow her to be subjected to hatred as I have been, I owe her that much."

"So what will you do? Keep running all your life?"

Naruto laughed. "No. I intend to send my tenant back to his own home. Only then will I be able to lead a normal life." With that, he dispelled the clone and absorbed all the information it had gleaned on the sensors. _Great! Now I will have to work overtime to figure this one out._

………………….

He entered the cave silently, like the shadow of the night. The walls of the cave were overrun with moss, which made the cave nearly invisible from the outside. After some time, he entered the center of the cavern. The room gave off a sickly green light. The moss that had covered almost the whole cave seemed to avoid the light, for this room alone was void of even the smallest sign of life. It was as if the light killed anything it touched. In the center of the room sat a figure, vaguely man shaped but otherwise completely featureless. It was utter black, absorbing every bit of light that touched it.

"Madara …" a wheezing voice came from the figure.

Uchiha Madara shivered as he approached and knelt before it.

"How much more must I wait, Madara!" the being sounded irritated.

"We are facing some small problems, master ….."

His mouth opened in a silent scream as pain beyond anything he had imagined tore through the very fabric of his being. Years seemed to pass before the pain vanished.

"I care not for your feeble excuses, Madara. I did not give you the gift of longevity so you could slack of."

"S… Sorry master!" Madara croaked.

"Bring me essence of the nine demons and unimaginable power shall be yours. Fail me, and you will share my fate. Believe me, it will not be pleasant."

Madara nodded as he backed out, mustering all his will power to keep himself from running like a scared rabbit. It was only after he came out of the cave that he released all control and proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Chapter 25: Puppets and Authors

_He cowered as the screams of the dead and dying filled the air. __A few buildings had caught fire and the stench of burning flesh filled the compound._

"_Akira sama, please come with me. It is not safe here!" Shiro grabbed him and began to drag him away from where he had been hiding under the dining table._

_They ran towards the storeroom where his mother was waiting for him. _

"_Akira, Shiro, hurry up!" his mother's voice came, frantic with worry._

_Just as he reached the storeroom, the door to their living room blew of his hinges. Beyond stood a figure, looking like some dark angle of death outlined against the flames billowing behind him. The mere sight was enough to force him to his knees, gasping for breath. _

_His mother lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar. Then she spun and threw him into the store room towards the cellar just as the figure moved._

"_Run!" she screamed as she turned to confront him. _

_But he remained frozen in terror, his mind screaming for him to run but his body refusing to obey._

_It was only when a foot of steel materialized from his mother's back that he began to scramble away.__ But it was too late. The figure began to walk towards him. Terror gripped him again._

"_Time to die, boy" There was a hint of regret in his voice as he raised his blade above his head, ready to cleave him in twain. _

_He whimpered and closed his eyes, waiting for death to claim him. But the blow never fell._

_At that very moment, Shiro charged, screaming like someone crazed. __The little nine year old leapt at the assailant with two kunai held in his hands._

_He watched in horror as the man reversed the stroke in mid air to plunge through Shiro's tender flesh, snuffing the life out of his faithful companion._

_It was then he noticed the explosive tags that were lined in Shiro's shirt, ready to explode. An instant later, a huge explosion rocked the house. He was flung back by the force of the explosion. Dazed and bleeding, he watched as the walls and roof began to crumble and fall._

_Mother … father … Shiro … were his last thoughts before the darkness claimed him_

"Wake up brother …"

He woke up with a start, gasping his lungs labored for breath .He was drenched in perspiration.

"That must have been some nightmare, Brother Erik. I heard you cry out even though I was outside the library" Abbot John put a hand on his shoulder.

He could only nod; the horrors from the nightmare still fresh in his mind. He looked up to see the Abbot looking at him with concern in his eyes. For an instant, he saw shock in his eyes, but it was gone, replaced by concern again so quickly that he did not know if he had imagined it or not.

"I think it is time for you to take a break, Brother. One cause of nightmares is said to be too much work" The Abbot said with a faint smile, looking at the pile of books at the table where Brother Erik had been studying.

"You're right. Maybe I should take a break" he said as he stood up and began to put the books away in an orderly fashion. Brother Jeremy would fly into a rage if he found anybody not handling the books carefully.

After he had put the books away, his mind went back to the instant when he thought he had seen shock in the Abbot's eyes. As he walked towards the library doors, he glanced at the full length antique mirror that had been kept here temporarily. He stopped and bit of a curse.

_Damn. I must have subconsciously activated the Sharingan due to the nightmare._

As he walked out of the library, he could only hope that the Abbot would not speak of it to anyone.

…..

"Is everything in order, Kabuto?"

"Yes, Orochimaru sama"

Orochimaru's eyes swept around the massive laboratory. Massive tanks were arrayed on both sides. Some of them were empty, but some of them were filled with a bluish liquid. In such tanks floated bodies that only looked vaguely human.

"By the way, were you spotted during your trips to the other bases?"

Kabuto snorted. "I should hope so."

Orochimaru nodded, a maniacal grin spreading over his face.

Kabuto absently pushed his glasses up with his finger. "But surely they will suspect some sort of trap if they are able to locate so many bases at once"

Orochimaru cackled. "I am counting on that, my dear Kabuto. They will be so busy looking at my traps, waiting for them to spring that will never notice me picking Sasuke out of Konoha."

"Very impressive, Orochimaru sama" Kabuto nodded.

Orochimaru's face split into a ghastly smile, the hunger and lust shining in his eyes. "Soon I will have those eyes, the eyes that will grant me immortality."

……..

Kankuro squinted his eyes as he carefully put the finishing touches on his latest puppet. Behind him lay an impressive array of puppets, each crafted so beautifully that to a casual observer, they seemed almost lifelike. There were puppets of fearsome dragons, samurai warriors, ninjas, kings and many others. The one in his hand was the puppet of a princess.

"That's beautiful!" an awed whisper came from behind him.

Kankuro turned around to see Temari looking at the puppet in his hand. He grinned as he saw her dumbstruck expression.

"I aim but to please" he said in a grandiose fashion as he swept his hands in the direction of his collection of puppets. He was not disappointed as Temari's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Wow!" she said. "I'm impressed Kankuro. I didn't know you were capable of such … artistic endeavors!"

Kankuro shrugged. "I didn't get the opportunity to do such things back … home!" His face clouded momentarily. But his expression became cheerful after a moment.

"So, what brings you to my humble studio? I don't see you anytime other than when we are having dinner!" He winked slyly at her and ducked frantically as Temari took a swipe at him with her fan.

"The Hokage wants us to form a genin team." Temari said.

Kankuro's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Temari shrugged "She said that it would be a waste to keep ninjas with our level of skill idle for too long." Her voice trailed away as she saw the expression on Kankuro's face become darker and darker.

"No!"

Temari couldn't believe her ears. "What?"

Kankuro turned away. "I said I don't want to be part of any genin team!"

Temari just stood there with her mouth open. Kankuro didn't want to be part of a genin team! The same Kankuro, who used to pester Baki-sensei to spare time to train him!

"But … but why not!" she spluttered.

Kankuro stood silent for a long time before replying "I … I don't enjoy being a ninja anymore, sis"

Temari walked up to Kankuro and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I cannot protect Gaara alone, brother. I need you. He needs you" she said softly.

Kankuro's face twisted in a mask of anguish as he struggled within himself.

"The new sealing by Jiraya-sama has left Gaara sane, but it robbed him of the extra power that came from his insanity." Temari went on. "Konoha can only shelter us for so long. Gaara needs us, Kankuro. We are all that's left of our family."

A shudder ran through Kankuro at her words. Deep inside, he realized that she was right. His shoulders slumped as he knew that he would once again have to fight, to kill. Wordlessly, he nodded.

Temari embraced Kankuro and they stood like that for a long time.

Kankuro sighed as he gently pulled away from his sister's hug. "When do we start?" he asked as his gaze went longingly to his theatre puppets.

"Don't worry, Kankuro. You can be a ninja and still have time for all this." Temari said, trying to cheer him up a little.

Kankuro nodded. _Yeah! Jiraya sama is a ninja but he still finds time to write his books…_

"Jiraya sama is an author? What kind of books does he write?"

Kankuro froze as he realized that he had said the last part aloud.

"I really don't know. I mean … I heard some people talking about it …" he stammered.

Temari looked at Kankuro closely. "Are you all right? You look a little flushed."

Kankuro nodded hurriedly. "Yes …yes I'm okay"

Temari looked sceptical, but decided to drop it.

As she reached the door, she said "Hmmm… maybe I'll ask Jiraya sama to lend me one of his books. I'm sure that a ninja like him would write very interesting things."

Poor Kankuro nearly had a heart attack. He stood there gaping like a fish as Temari left, his mind going over the scene again and again where Temari had thrashed him on discovering his 'literature'.

"I'm dead!"

……..

Sakura sighed as she let the warm water of the shower wash over her. The heat helped relieve the ache in her muscles a little bit and she was grateful for that.

As she stepped out from the shower, her gaze went to the mirror in the bathroom. She could see a large purple bruise on her face, but she only felt a minor stab of annoyance at that. She grinned as she realized that a few months ago, she would have gone into hysterics over it.

She walked out of the bathroom and opened her closet. She picked out a nightgown and quickly changed into it. Then she walked over to her dressing table and began to brush her hair. After a few strokes, her hand slowed down as her gaze travelled to a photo kept there; a photo of Team 7, taken a few days after it had been formed. It showed her with a big smile on her face, Sasuke with the same smirk on his face and Naruto just about to yawn. Even though she was no longer a fan-girl, a part of her heart still wept for what Sasuke had become.

……..

Naruto groaned loudly. From the information his clones had been gathering over the past week, he was ready to classify Jiraya's barrier as "impossible-to-break".

"Stupid Akatsuki and their stupid plans" he muttered angrily.

He had nearly perfected his "blood clone", thanks to the training he had been receiving from Tsunade and Shizune. Of course, they did not know anything about it and he was very careful to see that it remained that way. His progress with the Mokuton jutsu was not going very well, but fortunately, they seemed to attribute it to his less-than-perfect chakra control.

Naruto sighed as he turned the lizard over the spit again. He knew that his best chance of escaping was during his birthday, the one day that the entire village and many other outsiders gathered to celebrate all day and night. They wept buckets over the Yondaime's statue and spat gallons on the Kyuubi figurines.

Not for the first time, he wondered how his life would have been had people known who is father really was. Would they have treated him like a hero or would they have treated the Yondaime like some sort of freak who went around putting demons in his own child?

….

"More tea, Temari san?" Tsunade asked, holding up the teapot.

Temari politely refused. Tea was not her favourite beverage and she had already had two cups of it.

Tsunade put down the pot and picked up a sheet of paper from the table.

"I am putting Kankuro in Shikamaru's team. You and Gaara will be joining Naruto's team." Tsunade said, grinning widely.

Temari resisted the urge to roll her eyes. First Kankuro and now the Hokage herself. Really!

"Will five people on a team not make it unbalanced?" she asked instead.

Tsunade sighed. "Naruto will be removed from the team as soon as Sasuke is fit to rejoin them."

"Because of the Akatsuki" Temari said.

Tsunade nodded as she took a sip of sake from her flask.

"The why is Gaara …"

Tsunade sat silent for a few moments before she answered.

"Gaara has become … proficient in the use of his bijuu. Even though his renewed sealing has left him a little weaker, he is still a formidable opponent. Since he is not a Konoha shinobi, we cannot simply lock him up in the village forever. The best thing we can do for him is to enhance his skills."

"Naruto, on the other hand, is extremely reluctant to use even a tiny fraction of the Kyuubi's power. He has raised strong walls in his mind and these subconscious walls prevent him from tapping into the Kyuubi's power."

Temari was confused. "But I thought the council didn't want Naruto to use that power"

Tsunade shook her head. "Under normal circumstances, we would be very pleased with Naruto. But now, he needs to learn to tap into that power to defend himself from the Akatsuki."

Tsunade sighed wearily. "He may not look like it, but Naruto can be extremely stubborn regarding some things. I can't convince him. Jiraya can't convince him, sensei can't convince him."

"But why?" Temari asked.

Tsunade shrugged. "We don't know. He simply clams up whenever this topic his brought up."

She then stared at Temari for a few seconds, making her fidget.

"What?" she asked, unable to stand the piercing eyes of Tsunade.

"I want you to try and convince him." She said.

Temari was stunned. "Me?" She blurted.

Tsunade nodded. "You are the first person to get close to him. Find out why he is so dead set against using the Kyuubi's power."

Temari was outraged. "You want me to spy on him?"

Tsuande clicked her tongue irritably. "Don't be foolish, child. This is for his own good. No matter how much we try, we cannot keep on protecting him forever. One day they will catch us unawares and that will spell the doom not only for Naruto but for all of us, if he is not able to protect himself."

Temari bit her lips as she considered the Hokage's words. Much of what she said was true. Naruto was a good ninja, but being good was not enough.

She nooded slowly. "I'll try". But she did not know how she would get to broach the topic with Naruto.

Tsunade nodded, satisfied.

Temari stood up, wished her a good night and headed towards the door. Halfway there, she turned around.

"I almost forgot. Would you have any books written by Jiraya sama?"

Tsuande's jaw hit the ground. Shizune, who was clearing the table, dropped a cup.

Temari looked at them strangely.

Tsunade managed to recover some of her composure. "Why do you want Jiraya's tr .. er … books?"

_Yep. She is acting strange. Must be all the alcohol she guzzles_. Temari thought.

"Well, Kankuro mentioned that he is a writer. Surely a ninja like Jiraya sama who has travelled so widely would write interesting books"

A kind of choking sound seemed to emanate from Tsunade. For a moment, Temari thought that she might be having a fit of some kind, but after a moment, Tsunade threw back her head and began to roar with laughter. Temari stood there perplexed. Even Shizune was rolling on the ground laughing her head off.

When the two continued to laugh, Temari felt very annoyed. What was so funny?

Seeing that Temari was about to burst from anger, Tsunade managed to stop laughing. She walked up to the bookcase and pulled out a brown package that said "Happy Birthday, flat-chest". She pulled out a book from that and tossed it towards Temari.

Temari's mind reeled. It was a book from the "Icha Icha Paradise". For a long time she stared at the book in shock. It couldn't be. Surely a great man like Jiraya wouldn't ….

Fresh sounds of mirth snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up to find both Hokage and her apprentice rolling on the ground, laughing their heads off.

"Kankuro!" she roared as she stormed out of the house.

………

She stood upon the hill, her body tensed, her tails swishing back and forth. She stared at the spot where the energies were all twisted and bent around. No one could be seen for miles around. This area had been deserted ever since some of them had approached that spot and had been pulled into it. She put a paw forward, but immediately pulled it back. Her mate had been one of those who had been pulled into that … thing. Her whiskers trembled with fear and loathing as she stared helplessly, her body refusing to move towards that spot. She threw back her head and howled; her fury and anguish echoing all over the valley.


	27. Chapter 27

Author's note: Its been really long since I made any updates to this story .Well, one reason was that I had somehow lost the plot, the second was that I was really busy with office work and preperations for my JLPT certifications. I will try and put up at least one chapter every week from now on.

Also, my thanks to all those who have taken time to review the chapters after reading them.

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Chapter 26 – Orochimaru attacks.

Kabuto looked back at his "army", if something liked that could be called an army. Hundreds of creatures that only vaguely resembled humans shambled behind him. They were hidden by means of a strong genjutsu that was being maintained by Tayuya.

"Are they still following us, Yakudo?" he asked the cloaked figure standing to his right.

Yakudo nodded. He could, like the Aburame clan, communicate with bugs, but his talent was not limited to a single species of insects. He could communicate with virtually every insect in the world, with the exception of the kikachu. But unlike the Aburame, he could not control them. He kept his face hidden as it resembled that of an insect. His eyes were bulbous and he had a pair of teeth that resembled mandibles rather than canines. Of those who had seen his face, very few lived to tell of it.

"How many?"

Yakudo closed his eyes for a few seconds, his brows knit in concentration.

"There are four of them" he said after opening his eyes. "One is a giant with a huge sword and one of them walks with a slight stoop, like an old man".

"That would be Kisame, Itachi, Sasori and Deidara." Kabuto smiled, pushing up his glasses. "It seems that Akatsuki has sent its best". _Precious little it would do them. _

Kabuto turned his gaze in the direction of Konoha. Today was a day of festivities, for it marked the day the Yondaime Hokage had overcome the fearsome Kyuubi. There were a lot of important dignitaries visiting the village and as a result of that, the security would be spread thin. It was a good time to attack. They would get Sasuke, cause destruction and mayhem. Currently they were within four miles of Konoha's gates. The plan was very simple. The abominations would distract the main security, giving the others enough time to sneak in and get Sasuke.

He turned to the Sound ninjas who were waiting behind him. "Its time to move out."

Tayuya stopped playing her flute, now that it was no longer necessary to keep them hidden. Kabuto took out a strange mechanism from his pocket. The moment he activated it, the swarm of abominations broke into a run towards Konoha, shrieking and frothing at the mouth.

……………………….

Kisame grunted as he shifted the Samaheda on his back. "Tell me again why we are trailing that bunch of freaks!"

"We are to make sure that they do not injure our 'target'. Also, since Kabuto is leading the attack, their target must be Sasuke. Whatever happens, he will go running back to Orochimaru." Itachi replied coolly.

Kisame's laughter boomed out. "That's rich. I wonder what those Leaf pansies will say when we turn up chopping up their enemies."

His laughter was cut of as the howls and shrieks of the dread army reached them.

Sasori straightened. "It seems that the attack has been launched."

Diedara quickly formed multiple small clay birds and launched them in the air. They sped off towards Konoha, where they would scout for any sign of Kabuto or Sasuke. Another flock was soon sent a minute later. Their job was to scout for the container of the nine-tails, and keep him safe for as long as possible.

Once all the birds had left, Itachi nodded. "Let's …"

His words were cut off as the ground beneath him heaved. Diedara stumbled, caught off guard by this unexpected event. Kisame's jaw had dropped to the ground, for in front of him, the whole forest had come alive.

……………………..

Naruto carefully packed away the last of his paperwork in the container. Once that had been done, he activated the seals carved on it. The container would turn anything within it to ashes unless he deactivated the seals by midnight today. Jiraya may be a super pervert, but he was also a super genius when it came to seals. Since Naruto refused to have anything to do with techniques that the Yondaime ever used, Jiraya spent most of his time teaching him his own techniques and the art of seals.

He stood up and let his gaze wander around the room once more. There would be no coming back for him. If he failed to escape today, he would never get another chance. The council would have him sealed up forever.

"Are you sure about this, boss?" one of his clones asked as it came over, having finished his task.

Naruto nodded. "If they can summon one, they can summon even more."

The clone just shrugged. "Why are you suddenly so concerned about that?"

Naruto sighed. "It will serve no purpose if I manage to return the Kyuubi back to his world, only for someone to summon him back again. No one should have to go through what Gaara and I did. No one."

"What about Temari?"

Naruto stiffened. He glared at his clone. "What about her?"

"Are you just going to leave her high and dry? She needs you."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but his clone went on "And you need her."

Naruto stood still for a minute. "I know" he sighed.

"Then why are you leaving?"

"Because I will never be allowed to willingly leave on a 'wild goose chase'." Naruto said, shaking his head. "No one knows that I can communicate with the Kyuubi. If they did, I would be in that deep, dark cell faster than I could blink my eyes."

The clone shook his head. "I mean, why are you leaving her?"

Naruto scowled. "You know that already. She would make a soft target for anyone after me."

"You never worried about that earlier. In fact, you used to dream of having a family."

Naruto grit his teeth. "That was before I heard of this 'Akatsuki' business."

Before the clone could respond, a siren started to blare loudly.

"Shit!" Naruto swore as he raced out.

…………………………

The people out on the streets stood frozen by the sound of the sirens. Immediately, ANBU began pouring in.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is no need to panic. Please follow me quietly."

A nervous tourist spoke up. "Are… are we under attack?"

The ANBU shook his head. "The enemy is still three miles away and will not reach before fifteen minutes. Now, please follow me in an orderly fashion."

The people were still scared, but with the knowledge that the enemy was still at a distance and at the sight of Konoha ninjas materializing all over, they calmed down a little and began to follow their ANBU guides.

……………………..

Tsunade paused in the middle of her speech as the siren blared. Her gaze snapped towards Shizune. "Are all the dignitaries accounted for?"

Shizune glanced at the list in her hand and nodded. Everyone was here, in the Hokage Tower.

The dignitaries had begun to shift nervously in their seats, whispering to each other.

Tsunade drew her self to her full height. "We are under attack. In a few minutes, this tower will be sealed by a barrier. Please remain seated here till this is all over."

"What do you mean we are under attack?"

"After the Sand-Sound invasion, we had put up an extensive alarm system designed to go of if more than a certain amount of foreign chakra signatures were detected." Tsunade lied. She was certainly not going to tell them how the system functioned.

Another dignitary spoke up "This means that the enemy has not reached the gates yet?"

Tsunade nodded. "You will be safe here. Shortly after I leave, a barrier will be erected that will take care of anyone or anything that gets past the guards and manages to reach the tower."

Koharu stood up. "What do you mean, 'after I leave'? You aren't going anywhere."

Tsunade glared at her. "I am the Hokage. I am needed out there."

Koharu shook her head. "No, you are needed here. Jiraya and the others can take care of things."

Tsunade opened her mouth to protest. "But …"

Koharu put up a hand to stop her. "We just lost the Sandaime a few months ago. We cannot afford to lose another Hokage so soon."

Before Tsunade could say anything, a buzzing sound filled the air.

"What the …" she gasped as she looked out of the window. A curtain of shimmering blue had surrounded the Tower. They had activated the barrier. She was trapped! She wheeled angrily on her advisors

"Apparently, Jiraya agrees with me as well." Koharu said dryly.

Tsunade glared daggers at her, and she glared back. It was Tsunade who looked away first.

"Fine", she grumbled as she sat down heavily on her chair.

……………………………..

Temari spun around with a grace he would never have believed had he not seen it with his own eyes.

"So, what do you think", she asked with a smile.

Kankuro could only gape at his sister. Gone was the fearsome kunoichi who never gave a hoot about her appearance, who only dressed in combat gear with her massive fan being the only adornment. In her place was a vision of loveliness. Temari was dressed in a silk kimono with a hue of sky blue. It was beautifully crafted and showed of her figure with a devastating effect. Her hair was arranged on her hair in a regal fashion, held in place by a sapphire pin.

Temari giggled at her brother's expression. For once, Kankuro was truly at a loss for words.

Sakura grinned. "I told you this would knock them down."

Both the girls laughed.

"So Temari, you ready to dazzle Naruto?" Sakura asked, winking slyly at Kankuro.

Temari went red. "I don't know what you mean"

Sakura laughed at her expression. "Come on. Information gathering is a ninja's specialty, or have you forgotten, hmmm ….?"

Temari grinned sheepishly. "Do you think he will like it?"

Sakura shook her head. "Girl, if this doesn't render him speechless, I will go on a diet of cheese burgers with extra cheese for the next one month."

The siren blared just then, startling everybody.

"What the …" Kankuro said as he reached for his puppets.

Sakura paled. "I think we are under attack".

"Shit!" Temari swore as she rushed back to her room to get changed.

Two minutes later, Jiraya arrived there.

"You are to come with me." He said as he scanned the room. "Where's Temari?"

"She is changing" Sakura said.

"Sakura, go help Temari change faster."

Sakura nodded and rushed of.

"So, where are we going" Kankuro asked, trying to sound flippant.

"You are going to a safe location" Jiraya replied, emphasizing on the word you.

"We fight" Gaara said emotionlessly.

Jiraya shook his head. "You are not doing any such thing."

"Yes we are".

Everybody turned to see Temari storming out of her room, fully dressed for battle.

Jiraya glared at her. "You will not do any such thing. You will come with me and that is the end of the discussion."

"But …" Temari protested.

"No buts" Jiraya went on. "I do not want to have to explain to the Suna council how I let the last surviving members of their erstwhile Kazekage die."

Temari gritted her teeth, seeing that he would not relent.

……………………………..

Just as he stepped out of his house, Naruto found himself surrounded by no less than four ANBU.

"Naruto–san, please come with us." an ANBU with a bear mask stepped forward.

Naruto resisted the urge to scream in frustration. A perfect diversion ruined, all because of that super endowed hag.

"Naruto-san" the ANBU frowned, seeing him hesitate. Was he thinking of fleeing?

Naruto clenched his fists as he slowly put his right leg forward. _Why? Why why why why why? Did the Gods hate him that much? Everything was ruined. _

The ANBU tensed up. Naruto had been looking to make a run for it. They had made it just in time. A quick signal from him had Naruto surrounded by the other three.

"Just come with us, Naruto-san" he said softly, trying to calm Naruto down. "It may be the Akatsuki, for all we know."

Naruto hung his head as he slowly began to move forward.

The ANBU leader relaxed slightly. Good! He tensed up again as Naruto stopped.

"No"

The ANBU frowned "What?"

"I'm not going back" Naruto whispered.

"Grab him!" the ANBU leader shouted.

The three NABU leapt forward, only to be met with a solid wall of shadow clones, which leapt on them like crazed animals. Another hundred odd Narutos leapt away and began running away in different directions.

"Shit!" the ANBU cursed as they found themselves struggling under a mass of Naruto clones, who attached themselves to their arms and legs, not allowing them to move at all.

After perhaps a minute of struggling, the ANBU with the eagle mask managed to get one hand free. He grabbed his kunai and started slashing away at the clones. By the time he was free, he saw his comrades dispatching the last bunch of those dratted things. Anger flooded him. Didn't that boy know that they were here for his own protection?

"Anyone hurt?" the leader asked as he brushed the dust of himself. The others shook their head, indicating that they were not.

He snarled as he grabbed his radio. "All ANBU units. Uzumaki Naruto is on the run. Find him and bring him with you. This is situation beta. I repeat. This is situation beta."

Situation beta was one where a target had to be captured alive, but not necessarily unhurt.

He turned to his comrades. "Spread out"

All four shimmered for an instant before they vanished, in pursuit of Naruto.

………………………………….

Jiraya sighed with relief as the last of the dignitaries was ushered inside the building. He wasn't too worried about the enemy. The traps that he and the Aburame had set would make short work of any but he most skilled. Even if they did manage to reach the gates, they would be tired and wounded, making for easy pickings. This was just an extra safety measure. It wouldn't look good on Konoha's part to let a foreign dignitary killed. God only knew what kind of freak accidents happened during battles.

"Jiraya sama!" came a frantic shout.

Jiraya turned to see an ANBU running towards him.

"Naruto's gone!" he said as he skidded to a stop.

Jiraya felt as if he had been struck by a thunderbolt.

"Gone!" he shouted, grabbing the ANBU by his shoulders. "What do you mean he's gone!"

The ANBU shook himself free. "We tried to bring him here, but he refused to come. When we tried to grab him, he just summoned a couple of hundred of his infernal shadow clones and ran away." he snarled.

Jiraya went cold. This was bad, very bad. The last thing they needed right now was a missing jinchuriki.

"Alert all the troops at the gates. Divert a few to block any place that would offer even the tiniest chance of getting out of the village. Bring him back." He said to the ANBU.

The ANBU turned, then stopped. "What if he doesn't want to come back?"

Jiraya chewed on his lips for a few moments. "Use anything short of lethal force. Break his arms and legs if you must, but get him back."

The ANBU nodded before sprinting off.

"What do you mean break his arms and legs!"

Jiraya turned to see himself being glared at by Temari and Sakura.

He closed his eyes as he rubbed his temples. "Naruto is trying to escape, something that cannot be allowed to happen."

Sakura snorted. "Escape? You make it sound like as if he is being held here against his will. It's not as if he is a criminal or something!"

Jiraya shook his head as he saw Temari opening her mouth. "That is classified information. All you need to know that Naruto is in danger if he leaves the village, therefore, he must be brought back, with broken arms and legs if necessary."

He turned and ran out of the building, ignoring the cries of protests from Temari and Sakura. Once he was outside, the guards closed the gates and activated the barrier seals engraved on them.

He then ran towards the Inuzuka compound. _Why are you doing this Naruto? Don't you understand the dangers that await you outside the walls? _He had never even remotely suspected anything like this, though he realized he should have, given Naruto's psychological report. But he had appeared cheerful and happy. Heck! He was even 'dating' Temari'.

He shook his head. He would ask Naruto himself once he got him back. Right now, he needed to concentrate on matters at hand.

…………………………………….

Kabuto was panting heavily by the time they neared the pre-determined spot. So far, everything was a disaster. He was down to twelve jounins from the fifty odd that had entered the forest. These twelve were alive simply because they could activate the level 2 of the curse seal, But, they were all exhausted and wounded. While blood and chakra replenishing pills would help, it still put them at a disadvantage if they were to be discovered. Kabuto shivered as he wiped his glasses. He knew that Jiraya was good, but what he had seen took his respect for that man to a whole new level.

"What now, Kabuto sama?" one of the ninjas asked him.

Kabuto winced as he got up. The original plan had been to send a few men inside the Uchiha compound through the secret tunnel. They would retreat with their prize while the abominations kept the Konoha forces busy. That would never work now, because they would never survive the trip back. They would have to enter the compound and look for an alternate exit.

"We go in, get the Uchiha, then think of an alternate route." He said as he activated the seals to gain entrance to the tunnel.

……………………………………

Naruto ducked away as he spotted a jounin team patrolling the area. _Curses. Konoha ninjas everywhere. How the hell am I going to reach the forest?_ He had spent the last fifteen minutes trying to reach his exit spot while avoiding the troops. If he could make it out of the village walls, then it would be clear sailing. Whoever had triggered the alarms would keep the people here busy. Even if he triggered the alarm again, they would think that it was some of the invaders who were fleeing.

Suddenly, the patrol started running towards the west gate. He heard snatches of "monsters", but couldn't hear much. Within a few minutes, the area was clear. He came out of his hiding place and ran towards the exit, keeping an eye out for anyone who might raise the alarm.

…………………………………….

"By the Gods! What are those things?" a trembling chuunin pointed at what looked like beings from the darkest pits of hell began to emerge from the forest.

Kakashi swore. Those were Orochimaru's creations, and going by Jiraya's reports, they were tough, very tough. He pulled back his forehead protector and scanned the area using his Sharingan. One, two, …..ten….twenty. There were twenty of them.

"All right men!" he barked. "Engage them in groups of ten each once they reach the gates. I want at least three jounin per team."

He paused as he eyed the area. The things were starting to shamble towards them.

"I want all long-range specialists peppering them with everything they have. Lets soften the bastards up" he said as he his hands flew into a series of seals.

Soon, the air was filled with arrows, kunais, shuriken and long-range jutsus. Even though it became difficult to see, shrieks and screams told the defenders that the enemy was hurting. They hoped that they were hurting enough.

A few of the abominations managed to reach the gate and began to climb up, using their claws to gain purchase. More of them followed. The long range specialists began to fall back, allowing the close combat specialists to close in. Soon, the western gate was the scene of a pitched battle, with fifteen ninjas taking on each abomination.

The defenders soon realized that the creatures were built for taking punishment. No matter what they threw at them, they kept coming on. Within a few minutes, around twenty ninjas lay dead, torn to shreds, and only two of the enemy who had made it up the gate lay dead.

Kakashi took advantage of a moment's distraction to blow the head of his target with a super-charged chidori. Even so, the body continued to flay around for a full minute before collapsing. Kakashi shuddered as the body finally stopped moving. A glance around the battlefield told him that they needed more firepower.

"All gate units; send half of your troops to the west gate. We need help here." He barked into his communicator. He hoped that help would come soon. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing that he was unknowingly helping a certain blond hell bent on getting out of the village.

………………………..


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 27 - When hell breaks loose

The team in the Uchiha compound was growing nervous. They had been searching for ten minutes and had found no sign of Uchiha Sasuke. They had looked in every nook and corner, without finding so much as a strand of hair. It was like he had completely vanished. He couldn't have gotten out because they had been on guard duty for that week.

"Shit!" Mokun spat. "Where did that Uchiha prick run off to?"

He was searching the east wing of the compound. The other three sections had been taken up by his three team mates. They had even gone through the tunnels beneath the compound, but without any success. As he sat down, a germ of doubt began to grow in his mind. What if there were tunnels that they did not know about? If that were the case, then they could search high and low for days and still not find anything. They would have to call for a tracker team.

A sudden movement to his left brought him back to his surroundings.

His hands flew to the sword strapped to his back as he got into a fighting stance. Slowly, shapes began to materialize in the gloom of the room.

_Sound Ninjas! But how?_ He swore softly as he counted twelve of them.

Kabuto stepped forward with a sly smile on his face. "The Uchiha compound has more tunnels than young Sasuke-kun revealed." He looked around. "Where is he, by the way?"

Mokun found himself surrounded. He could safely assume that all these were jounin level at least. Orochimaru would not have sent anything but the best.

_The attack was a diversion! This is bad. I have to warn the others. _Mokun thought quickly. There was no way he could defeat all twelve of them, or escape and warn his comrades in time, unless …

Kabuto frowned. Why was that man smiling? Did he think he had a chance of winning?

Mokun grinned. "Tell me, do you like fireworks?" he asked as he performed a single seal.

The next instant, the room was engulfed in a roaring explosion.

"Mokun!!" Yukina screamed as she saw one house in the east wing being engulfed by a huge explosion. She knew that Mokun had used his suicide attack because the flames were not red, but cobalt. He had designed that jutsu not only to take out enemies if he was hopelessly surrounded, but also to warn his team.

"Yukina! What happened? We heard an explosion." Her radio crackled.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she fumbled for the radio hooked to her belt.

"Yukina! Come in! What's going on?" the voice on the other end sounded worried now.

She finally managed to switch the radio on. "It was Mokun. The enemy must have somehow entered the compound and …" Her voice broke at that point.

"Shit!" Tanaka swore as he ran out of the tunnel he was exploring. What were enemy troops doing inside the village? This was bad.

"Yukina, Tsuki, get out and contact Jiraya sama. Do not attempt to engage the enemy. I repeat. Do not attempt to engage the enemy." Mokun was the superior fighter. If he had been forced to use his death attack, it was clear that they could not fight the enemy head on. Back up was needed.

Within a minute, all three were out of the compound and racing towards different directions, tying to find someone in charge who would know what to do.

………………………………..

Kabuto swore as he healed his left side, which was covered with third degree burns all over. He had managed to escape with his life only because he had been standing close to the tunnel entrance and had dived in. _What kind of jutsu was that?_ He thought angrily.

Out of the twelve, only five were left and that was only because they had been in their level two forms which had shielded them from the blast. The others had been killed instantly. Kabuto also would have died had it not been for his innate healing abilities and his skills as a medic.

_Cobalt flames! It is only a matter of time before they come rushing in with reinforcements._ Kabuto shook his head. They needed to get Sasuke and move out quickly more than ever.

He turned to the other three. "Listen carefully. We all are going to split up and search the compound. If you find Sasuke, ask him to show you an alternate path that will take you beyond the forest. Do not wait for the others even for a second. If we fail to return without Sasuke, we will wish that the Konoha ninjas had caught us first."

No one argued with that statement. They all knew the kind of tortures Orochimaru could come up with if he was angered. Kabuto was right. It was better to die than to return empty handed.

……………………………….

"Diedra! What's the update?" Itachi asked the blond effeminate who was staring ahead with a blank expression.

It took a few seconds before his eyes fluttered. "Pitched battle at the gates, man! But it will be over soon. The forest gobbled up most of them." He finished with a shudder.

Itachi frowned. The traps in the forest had been laid with a precision and skill he would not have believed possible. _You continue to surprise us, Jiraya sama. Madara was wrong. The greatest threat to our organization is not Orochimaru, but you._

"What about the young jinchuuriki?" Sasori asked softly.

Diedra spat in disgust. "Fool made heaps of shadow clones and ran off. Fooled the ANBU, fooled my birds. I got all ten following ten different bunches."

"He'll be toast if he tries to enter the forest." Kisame growled.

Itachi shook his head. "His instincts for self-preservation are very strong. I am sure he will go back once he sees what he is up against."

"But what if his instincts do not kick in? We cannot afford to lose the nine-tailed beast." Sasori countered.

The group fell silent. Yes, it was possible that he would be killed.

"Then we have no choice but to go after him ourselves." Itachi said finally.

"You want us to cross that!" Kisame asked incredulously.

Diedra grinned. "Relax! I'll just make a big birdie and he will grab the boy as soon as he comes out of the village." Within seconds, a gigantic bird of clay was flaying towards the forest. But just as the bird entered a few feet within the forest, spider webs and vines flew to grab the bird. Within seconds, it was snared and pulled into the forest, where a huge explosion marked its end.

"Even the aerial route is closed to us." Sasori noted.

"Hey! How come the ones we made earlier got through?" Kisame wheeled angrily on his blond partner.

Itachi shook his head in awe. "Ingenious! The traps react to both chakra and size. In short, anything which does not fit into the forest's natural environment will be targeted …."

"Which means there is nothing we can do but wait here" Sasori finished for him.

……………………………….

Sasuke crept out cautiously from his hiding place on hearing the explosion. He hoped that the explosion meant that the Sound ninjas had entered the compound. Like a thief in the night, he weaved his way silently through the many alleys in the huge, sprawling compound that had once been the home to over a hundred Uchihas, before Itachi had slain them all.

As he made his way towards the source of the explosion, he grew worried. He bit of a curse as he realized that the explosion had happened in the place where the tunnel entrance was. He moved faster now, trading stealth for speed. He would get out himself if he must, but he had to reach Orochimaru. Only he could grant him power, power to defeat his brother, power to avenge his clan.

Sasuke was panting heavily by the time he reached the site of the explosion. Flames still licked the place hungrily. Despite himself, Sasuke stepped back. There was no way he would be able to get inside now. His seal not only prevented the curse-seal from activating, but also kept him from using his chakra and stamina beyond a certain amount.

The rubble in front of himself suddenly exploded, sending debris flying everywhere. Sasuke threw himself to the ground with a strangled cry, frantically trying to avoid getting hit by any missiles. In the light of the flickering flames, he saw three outlines emerge. Two of the shapes were only vaguely human, which was enough to tell him that they were minions of Orochimaru.

The third figure approached slowly, limping slightly. He was covered in ash and blood and looked extremely pissed off. Sasuke stood still as the man approached him.

Kabuto looked at Sasuke with a gaze that people normally reserve for insects and all that is foul.

"I hope you are worth all the trouble we've been through", he said, shaking his head in disgust.

Sasuke bristled at his tone, but held his tongue. Patience was something he had learned very well during the last few months of this 'captivity'. Once he had gained enough power, he would make sure that Kabuto spent the rest of his life licking his boots.

"Are there any other tunnels?" Kabuto asked wearily.

Sasuke frowned, tying to remember. There was something one his of uncles had told him …

"There is one more, but we will have to search for it. I remember the area, not the exact location."

"Please tell me it doesn't lead back into the forest" Kabuto's voice sounded almost … pleading.

"Of course it does." Sasuke said. What was wrong with this guy!

Kabuto shook his head. Now he had no choice but to resort to … that.

_Flashback_ …….

Kabuto stood in the throne room, head lowered and heart throbbing. Orochimaru had become …. imbalanced… of late. His mood swings were frightening. No one was safe during his tantrums, except for Kabuto, and that would not last for much longer.

"Is everything ready, Kabuto?"

Kabuto nodded.

"And the preparations for the portal"

Kabuto swallowed. "About that …"

Orochimaru hissed. "Is there a problem, Kabuto?"

Kabuto pushed back the infernal glasses that kept sliding down on his nose. "There is a possibility that I may not have enough chakra to open it. In that case, I will need to borrow it from someone."

"Borrow it from one of the men accompanying you" Orochimaru waved his hand dismissively.

"The _men_ will be in their cursed seals states to buy me time to open the portal. It does take some time."

Orochimaru leaned back on his throne and stared at his subordinate for a long time.

"You wish to draw chakra from Sasuke-kun" It was a statement, not a question.

"He would be the only one who can spare the chakra. Plus, I cannot draw chakra from someone who has released his seal"

Orochimaru started to laugh loudly, the hall echoing the sound till it seemed that even the dead bodies strewn in the room were laughing.

Kabuto quickly caught the scroll that Orochimaru threw at him.

"If you do feel the need, you will find the instructions there for circumventing Jiraya's infernal seal"

Kabuto nodded and started to make his way out of the room.

"Oh Kabuto!" Orochimaru's sing-song voice stopped him.

"Don't bother coming back without my Sasuke-kun"

Kabuto nodded stiffly and left, followed by Orochimaru's maniacal laughter.

_End Flashback …….._

The remnants of Kabuto's forces fanned out, ready to take out anyone who approached. Kabuto grumbled as he took out the scrolls. With deft hands that came with his formidable skills with a surgical blade, he drew a small circle with several intricate symbols in it.

"Sit!" he told Sasuke, pointing towards the circle, as he set to work on another circle.

"What's this for?" he asked, wary of Kabuto.

Kabuto gnashed his teeth in exasperation. They were running out of time and the brat wanted to play ten-questions.

"This circle will nullify Jiraya's seal on you".

"Then what are you drawing the other circle for?"

Kabuto threw his hands up in the air as he wheeled to face Sasuke.

"Look kid, do you or do you not want to get out of Konoha alive?"

Grumbling, Sasuke sat down in the centre of the circle, taking care not to disturb any of the symbols painted there. Kabuto pricked his index finger and allowed a drop of blood to drop on a symbol. Immediately, the circle began to glow.

Before Sasuke's very eyes, the symbols began to writhe like snakes. Suddenly, they began to flow towards his body, climbing on his torso and flowing towards his neck. It was then that the pain hit him, agony so immense that he could not even scream. It felt as if every inch of his body was on fire, fire that was hotter than the hottest sun. Just as he thought he would pass out, the pain vanished, replaced by a dull throb centered on his shoulder. Wearily, he turned his head to look at his shoulder, only to find all traces of Jiraya's seal gone.

Meanwhile, Kabuto was furiously trying to finish the preparations for the portal. He knew he had to finish this before reinforcements arrived, or they were doomed, Sasuke was, anyway. A quick flick of his tongue told him that the poison pill stored in his tooth was still there. _Sasuke __won't be so lucky of he is caught._

"Sasuke, what the hell are you doing?"

Kabuto swore as his hands moved even faster. The damned copy ninja was here already.

Sasuke staggered to his feet and glared at his former teacher.

"I'm taking control of my destiny" he spat.

"Then I'm taking you in, by force if necessary" Kakashi's voice was cold as he walked towards Sasuke, only to be met by two sound jounins in their level two states. As the three ninjas who were with him rushed forward to help, sounds of weapons clashing told him that the other team had also run into opposition. He bit of a curse as he saw Sasuke running away as he fought the two sound monstrosities.

_Looks like Orochimaru is good for something after all_. Uzumaki Naruto was making good time as he raced towards the Uchiha compound. The majority of the patrols had been pulled out to help bolster the defenses at the gates.

As he entered the compound, he took out the map he had pilfered from the Uchiha library. The map was a piece of brilliant work. Infusing chakra in it showed you as a dot on the map, making navigation very simple. From what he could see, he was three blocks away from the tunnel entrance. He was almost free! Tucking the map away, he crept towards his destination, a huge grin plastered on his face. As he neared within a block of the tunnel, fear gripped his heart. He could hear sounds of weapons clashing and screams from beyond! He carefully crept closer to have a better look. As he peeked out from the corner of a house, what met his eyes was a pitched battle between Konoha and Sound ninjas, with one of the ninjas feverishly drawing something on the ground. Even worse, the Konoha forces were being led by Kakashi!

He started to slowly back away. He had backed up five paces when he bumped into something. He whirled round, kunai clutched in his hand to see a surprised Uchiha Sasuke.

Uchiha Sasuke was not having a good day. First, the escape tunnel was blown away. Second, he had been subjected to agonizing torture for getting his seal removed. Third, damned Konoha nins had shown up just as they were ready to escape. The anger that had been building up for the past months had reached his peak and now needed an outlet. Unfortunately, Uzumaki Naruto had just become a target for that outlet.

"Uzumaki trash!" Sasuke howled gleefully. Gone were the thoughts of power, of going to Orochimaru. All that mattered to him at that point was the object of all his misfortunes, the dead last who had dared to beat him in the chuunin exams. Power flooded through him as the cursed seal began to respond to his thoughts. He would crush Naruto, crush him so thoroughly that not even his soul would remain on this earth.

_Uh oh!_ Naruto gulped as black markings began to flow over a maniacally laughing Sasuke. The way he has said Uzumaki trash and from the amount of blood lust spilling over from him, not to mention that disgusting smelling chakra, there was no doubt that Sasuke had snapped and was going to kill him. His fears were proven right when Sasuke leapt at him, a black Chidori blazing in his hand.

Naruto leapt back as Sasuke's blow missed him by a fraction. The force of the blow was so great that cracks appeared on the pavement. _This is not good, _Naruto thought as Sasuke raised his head to glare at him.

"Do you like my new power, demon brat?" Sasuke sneered as he slowly walked towards Naruto, his terrified expression sending shivers of pleasure through his body.

He laughed at seeing Naruto's shocked expression.

"Oh yes! I know your filthy little secret. He told me everything, how you cheated, how you tried to cheat me out of my destiny" the last part came out as a howl.

Naruto shook his head wearily. So much for getting out unnoticed. On top of that, he would now have to fight off an obviously crazed Uchiha. So, just as Sasuke completed his howling and rambling, he fired of the chakra blasts he had used against him in the exams.

Sasuke was lifted of and slammed into the wall behind him so hard, that the world started to go dark. Hazily, he could make out Naruto running away.

_No, not again, not again. I am Uchiha, powerful, all powerful, I will not loose_. "I refuse to loose!" Sasuke screamed as the cursed seal began to glow with an ominous black light.

Sasuke opened his eyes to find himself in a massive dark room. A pyramid shaped structure, about thirty feet high and stairs leading to the top stood in front of him. Curious, he climbed them slowly. As he reached the top, he saw a pedestal, on which rested an orb. The orb was so black that it seemed to devour the light around him. The orb pulsed at regular intervals, like a beating heart. Slowly, Sasuke started to reach out for it.

He jerked back as the air around him shimmered. The shimmering solidified into a human form.

Sasuke trembled. "M .. mother?" his voice shook as he saw his mother appearing before his very eyes. He whirled around again as more shapes began to appear. "Father .. grandfather, uncle Kaito ,everyone?" Soon, the room was filled with the Uchihas who had been slain on that fateful night. With solemn faces, they all stood where they had materialized, watching Sasuke as tears flowed from his eyes.

"Mother!" Sasuke whispered through his tears.

"Why won't you say anything? I missed you!"

But she only continued to look at him with sad eyes.

"Ha … have I disappointed you, mother.. .father …"

Sasuke knelt there, crying, desperately wanting to hear his parent's voices, parents who had been snatched away from him. _Why won't they talk to me!_

Slowly, he raised his tear stained face. "I have disappointed you, haven't I!" his voice cracked as he spoke.

"I haven't avenged your deaths, I haven't killed Itachi yet. But don't you worry, I have the power to do that now" Sasuke was now raving as he staggered to his feet.

"Oh yes! I will kill Itachi. I will send him to you so you can punish him. You will punish him, won't you mother!" Sasuke swayed drunkenly as he made his way to the orb.

"You won't be disappointed in me anymore!" Sasuke screamed as his hands closed about the orb. The rush of power filled Sasuke, firing up his senses. Had he looked up, Uchiha Sasuke would have seen the tears rolling down his mother's eyes and the look of anguish on his father's.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 28 – The end of … Naruto?

Kakashi panted heavily as he stood before the body of his opponent. He had received a deep gash on his right shoulder and a number of smaller cuts, but none of them were fatal. His left hand glowed softly as he quickly stopped the bleeding. _Thank God Tsunade sama insisted that every one take a course in the basics of healing_.

Just then, a wave of chakra washed over everyone. Kakashi barely had time to rip of his mask before he bent over, retching. Kabuto lay writhing on the ground, feeling as if someone had twisted him inside out. All the sound and lead ninjas in the vicinity felt more or less the same way.

_Gods! Is that the kyuubi?_ Kakashi stood frozen with terror for a few seconds. The evil in the chakra had been overpowering, to say the least. No, it couldn't have. Jiraya sama himself had double checked Naruto's seal many times since he had come. Then what …A howl shattered the night, just as he saw Naruto running like the devil was on his heels. A couple of moments later, his pursuer appeared, not running, but walking. He was a short man, with grey skin and red hair. His skin was covered with what looked like sores and his fingers ended in claws. But what

"Naruto! Get back here!" he howled and the same chakra that had caused him to throw up moments ago flared around him, though the effects were much subdued. It was like a volcano that had blown its top and now was simply pouring out lava at a steady state. Kakashi stared at that man. He had sounded almost like … like Sasuke. He looked carefully and let out a small asp as he made out the symbol of the Uchiha clan on the back of his shirt.

_The cursed seal_ … Kakashi went cold as realization hit home.

"Kakashi sempai" he turned back to see the other members of his team, or those who were able to stand. The sound ninjas had been neutralized.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Uchiha Sasuke" Kakashi replied wearily. Collective gasps were the only response he got.

"So …. What do we do?"

"Uzumaki Naruto is in here somewhere. Find him and capture him. Break his legs if you have to but get him"

"Isn't that a bit … excessive!"

Kakashi shook his head. "His regenerative abilities will prevent him from getting seriously hurt. But on no accounts can we let him escape. The Uchiha compound borders the forest. If he were to enter …" he left the sentence hanging there.

The others quickly sped away to find Naruto before he stumbled into the forest and into the traps it held. Kakashi stood there for a moment, his head down and eyes closed. _Forgive me Obito. _A lone tear escaped his eye as he made his way to his former student.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kabuto worked feverishly to finish the seals for the portal, even though he had a sinking feeling that he was simply wasting his time. Sasuke had released his cursed seal and how! He had reached level 2, which should not have been possible without assistance. Now he had no chakra source to draw upon to successfully activate the portal. He was low on chakra and he had already consumed two pills while getting here thanks to the damned forest. Any more pills would prove fatal.

_Stupid insane Uchiha_ he thought bitterly as he flung the brush down in disgust. The amount of chakra needed to open this portal was sizable, chakra which he could barely spare even in his peak condition. That is why he had hoped to leech Sasuke's chakra to open the portal correctly! Yes, correctly, for even with the bare minimum chakra, the portal could be activated, but there was no telling where they would land up. They might land in Suna, in Ame, in the deepest part of the ocean or even the Hokage's bathroom. They might even end up landing right in the middle of the forest which had nearly shredded his squad to pieces. But Sasuke had chosen this very moment to go ballistic and what a way to do it. Level two!

_Now all I have to do is grab Sasuke, activate the portal and hope that we land somewhere that is not too unpleasant_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Get back here, you spoilt brat!"

_Me, spoilt! _Naruto huffed indignantly as he raced through the Uchiha compound. Three jounins were hot on his tail and had no compunctions about using him as target practice. They regularly threw shuriken and kunai at him, which made it difficult for him to try and use the kage bushins as a distraction. As it was, he had nearly been hit quite a few times. It was only his training kicking in at the last moment that had saved him each time.

_Damn, but they are persistent!_

Naruto jumped back with a startled oath as a mud wall suddenly rose out of the ground to block his path.

_What the …_

A wall rose to his left and before he could get his bearings together, a wall had risen to his right.

"There is no escape now, Uzumaki. Come with us peacefully or we will take you back after breaking your legs!"

Naruto's head shot up to see three jounins, each standing on a wall.

_How the hell did they get here so fast?_

"I never thought I would be picking up tricks from kids!"

Naruto whirled around to find the same three jounins now behind him, spread out as to cut of his every avenue of escape.

_Shadow clones_

His stomach tightened with realization.

The lead jounin chuckled at the boy's expression.

"Yes, shadow clones! As I said before, this is something we picked up from you. I have to hand it to you kid, you have taken the shadow clone technique and made it into a completely devastating art."

_Here we go again_ Naruto sighed as he formed the seals to summon more shadow clones. The next instant, the whole area was filled with around thirty clones who prepared to dash of in different directions.

He yelped as two shuriken bit into his shoulders, while the unmistakable popping sounds told him that all his clones had been destroyed.

"No more games, boy!" the jounin said, clearly irritated as he slowly advanced towards Naruto.

Naruto almost wept. Just two hundred feet to his left was the wall that separated the Uchiha compound from the forests. Two hundred feet, this would have taken him two seconds to cover. Now he would be going back in shackles, all because of two seconds. It just wasn't fair.

Bestial howls rang, freezing everyone in their places. The jounins went cold. The howls sounded too much like the things they had fought back at the gates.

_Gods, let it not be those things_, the jounin leader prayed as he turned towards the direction the sound had come from.

Unfortunately for him, whatever deity he had prayed to chose to ignore his prayers as about six nightmarish creatures appeared in view.

_What in heaven's name are those things_? Naruto thought as a shiver ran down his spine. It was as if the boundaries between earth and hell had blurred and these creatures had simply crossed over. In fact, he wasn't sure if even hell had such horrible things. Then as the creatures charged, he found himself dodging massive claw swipes. Despite its bulk it was fast, very fast.

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"Good evening, Kakashi sensei!" Sasuke greeted his former teacher with a big smile on his face.

Kakashi frowned. Something was wrong here.

"You've come to wish me luck, haven't you sensei!" Sasuke continued, oblivious to Kakashi's frown. "See, I've just gained a whole lot of power. First I will kill the demon, then I will go and punish Itachi for being a bad boy" Sasuke giggled like a giddy school kid.

_What's wrong with him? Has he lost his mind?_ Kakashi was seriously worried now. An angry Sasuke was better than an insane Sasuke, especially with the cursed seal radiating power at full blast. He could reason with an angry person, but no one could reason with a madman.

"Wait .. what demon are you talking about?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke's laugh was shrill, his madness barely concealed. "Why Naruto, of course! Sandaime was also a bad boy for keeping the demon alive."

"How do you know of such things Sasuke?" Kakashi snapped. If he got his hands on whoever had talked, he would be spending the next few months in the loving care of Morino Ibiki..

"He told me" Sasuke whispered.

"He who?"

"He told me everything, how Naruto was able to defeat me, how he would help me achieve my goals."

Kakashi's eyes flew wide open at the last part. Orochimaru! But how? That would explain how Jiraya's seal was no longer sealing off the cursed seal.

"I will make you proud, sensei"

"Eh?" Kakashi was jolted out of his thoughts.

Sasuke's face was comically serious as he spoke "He killed them, you know!"

Kakashi's mind was in a whirl. "Err … killed who?"

Sasuke leaned forward conspiratorially "Obito's family"

Kakashi's frame tightened in rage. Even after all these years, that name could provoke all sorts of emotions in him.

"But you don't have to worry, Kakashi sensei. I will punish him. I will make him apologize to you, then to mother, father and everyone he hurt. Yes, bad boys have to be punished, yes …." Sasuke's voice trailed off as he broke into another fit of giggles.

Now Kakashi was convinced that Sasuke had completely lost his mind. Something must have gone wrong during the process of transforming, or perhaps Sasuke was crazy to begin with.

"But first, I have to go kill Naruto". Sasuke started walking towards the direction he had seen running off to.

"Sasuke, wait … " Kakashi reached out to grab Sasuke, but a scream froze him in his tracks. He cursed as he recognized the source of the scream. A moment later, a minion came lumbering towards him, frothing at the mouth.

_How did those things get inside_? "Sasuke wait!" he shouted frantically, but to no avail as Sasuke simply continued walking. The very next moment, it was attacking him and Kakashi was fighting for his life.

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"Will we reach there in time, Jiraya sama" a worried Shizune asked the toad sage.

"We have to Shizune, we have to, otherwise …" Jiraya's voice choked off. They were currently racing towards the Uchiha compound on the back of a massive toad after they had received a transmission that Naruto was in there.

_Why Naruto, why are you doing this_. Though it was not apparent, Jiraya was sick with worry. His first encounter with Naruto had shown him how much pain and suffering the boy had gone through, pain that might have been avoided had he been there for him. When Kushina was pregnant, she and Minato had asked him to be Naruto's godfather, a duty in which he had failed miserably. If anything were to happen to the kid now, he didn't know what he would do.

His heart leapt as he saw the walls of the Uchiha compound getting closer and closer. With a massive leap, the toad cleared the wall and they were in the compound. What greeted them were dead bodies of ninjas.

"Shizune, check if any of our people are alive"

"Right away" Shizune leapt of the back of the toad and rushed to check the prone ninjas wearing leaf headbands. As she moved around, she had to summon every ounce of her will power not to throw up. Some of the bodies had been torn apart in ways she would not have even imagined were possible.

_What kind of monster could have done this_, she asked although she suspected she knew the answer. Orochimaru and his experiments! The first two she checked were dead, but she caught a faint pulse in the third. Heaving a sigh of relief, she set to close up the deeper wounds, ignoring the smaller ones. The hospital could take care of the rest.

Meanwhile, Jiraya was running towards what sounded like another battle. His heart was literally in his mouth as he prayed that Naruto was hiding somewhere safe and sound. As he got closer, he could make out Kakashi and a minion battling. The way Kakashi's chest was heaving clearly told him that the jounin was exhausted and wouldn't last long without help.

Kakashi bit of an oath as the claws scraped against his ribs. His chest felt like it was on fire and his limbs felt heavy.

_This is bad. I spent too much energy on those Sound ninjas. I can't stand much longer_. He gritted his teeth as the creature lunged once more, this time faster than before. Kakashi jumped back again, but this time, he was not fast enough as the claws sank into his shoulders. He screamed as he felt his left shoulder bone break as the creature squeezed, a hungry grin on its face.

_Is this … the end?_ Kakashi thought wearily as the grinning face inched closer.

The face vanished in a spray of blood and gore. Kakashi was so stunned that for a moment or two, he could only gape. It was only when the body began to sag; digging the claws even further that Kakashi grabbed them and wrenched them out of his body.

"Are you all right?"

Kakashi lifted his head to see Jiraya standing over him. He nodded wordlessly, feeling totally drained.

"Where's Naruto?"

Kakashi weakly raised his hand to indicate the direction he had last seen him running off to.

Jiraya nodded. "Shizune will be here in a few minutes. Rest yourself. I will go after Naruto"

Kakashi shook his head. "Sasuke … "

Jiraya frowned. "Don't tell me that idiot is running around here as well."

Kakashi nodded. "He's gone mad. He managed to activate his cursed seal."

Jiraya went pale. "That's impossible!"

"I saw him. He said he was going to punish Naruto. He was also rambling about Itachi and the Sandaime being bad boys …" Kakashi winced as he shifted, the pain in his injured shoulder flaring at the movement.

"But why is he going after Naruto?"

"Orochimaru told him about Naruto being the Kyuubi container!"

"What" Jiraya shouted

Kakashi shook his head in puzzlement. "He has been in contact with Ororchimaru for only God know how long. I am sure it was he who circumvented your seal."

"By the Gods above!" Jiraya exclaimed as he rushed towards the direction pointed out by Kakashi, for he had just sensed a spike of the Kyuubi's chakra. Given how reluctant Naruto was in using that power, a spike could only mean that he was in terrible danger.

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Naruto could only watch in utter disbelief. The chakra beam that had blasted Sasuke away like a rag doll had only made the horror in front of him stagger back a few feet. Almost instinctively, he went through the seals for the shadow clones and soon, about thirty odd clones were grappling with it. Naruto took advantage of the momentary break to take a look around. All the leaf ninjas were busy fighting. A small ray of hope filled him. This was his chance!

He leapt away from the fighting scene, summoned another few dozen shadow clones then made a mad dash for the wall. However, as he took two steps on the wall, a clawed hand came into view.

_No, no no no no! Not these things again!_ He felt like screaming as a few more hands came into view, followed by heads. Cursing, Naruto summoned a few more clones and leapt back away from the wall and towards the row of buildings.

_I've got to find another way out. Maybe the map will show me an alternate route out of the village_. His mind raced as he ran towards the shelter of the houses that stood abandoned. He was halfway through, when out of the shadows, emerged Sasuke. Naruto stared in utter disbelief at the boy who now looked like a miniature version of a devil. Bat like wings spread out, each wingspan roughly three feet. His hands ended in claws, his skin was red and his eyes were black, with a white center. But most frightening was the amount of blood lust radiating from him, blood lust that he had never felt before, not even from the abominations he had fought a minute ago.

Seeing his prey in front of him, Sasuke launched himself at Naruto with a howl of triumph. Naruto desperately summoned all of his chakra to launch a beam at him. To his horror, it only sent him back a few feet instead of blasting him away like before.

"Tee hehehehe" Sasuke giggled, clenching and unclenching his fingers. "Your tricks don't affect me any longer. But let's see how you stand up to a few tricks of mine"

Sasuke held out his right hand as chakra began to gather with a crackling sound. Naruto's eyes grew wide as he saw a chidori coming to life, but not just any chidori. This one was black, black not due to the absence of light, but as if it was eating all the light around it. With a roar, Sasuke leapt high in the air, then dived at Naruto, propelled by his wings. Pushing as much chakra as he could, Naruto leapt away as the Chidori plunged into the ground.

So great was the force of the blow that the street began to crumble and fall away. As the sounds of the chidori died away, a new sound could be heard, that of a flowing river. It was one of the many minor tributaries that fed the Hisoi river, the main source of water for a large part of the Fire country. This one had been, over the years, forgotten by all and as a result was not shown on any map.

Sasuke giggled as he charged Naruto again. This time, Naruto could not keep up and screamed as Sasuke punched right through his stomach. Cackling madly, Sasuke began to flap his wings as he carried a struggling Naruto higher and higher.

Naruto began to feel dizzy from all the blood loss. No matter how much he struggled, Sasuke refused to release his death grip on Naruto. His vision began to blur as his struggles grew weaker.

_I don't want to die, not now_, he silently screamed as his life began to ebb. His mind began to shut down as his thrashings began to die down. Dimly, he could hear Sasuke's laugh filled with malicious glee.

_I don't want to die. Someone help me!_

"I don't want to die" The voice within him roared as blood red chakra began to spill out of him, halting the flow of blood. Gathering this new found strength, Naruto let loose a chakra beam with everything he had. Sasuke was flung back with a howl of rage at being denied his prey once again, as Naruto began to fall. But even as he fell, his wounds continued to heal. Naruto was jerked back to full consciousness as he saw the river rushing up to greet him.

_Shit! _He swore as he plunged into the icy cold river.

Sasuke flew back to hover above the spot where he had seen Naruto falling.

"Come out, you filthy demon spawn!" He screamed with all the hatred burning through him. His face split into a horrifying grin as he saw Naruto break above the surface of the water, clutching a pile of rocks to keep himself from being washed away.

"Die, Naruto!" Mustering all the loathing and hatred he had for the boy who had defeated him, he let loose a gigantic fireball, his signature move. Only this time, the flamed were not yellow, but a sickly purple that promised a horrifying end for whatever it touched.

A scream rang through the air, high and terrible as the fireball made contact.

"No! Naruto!" Jiraya screamed as he saw his student being consumed by the unholy fire. He jumped into the river, but in the few seconds it took him to reach Naruto, the flames had already died down, leaving behind a pile of ashes, a few blood splatters and a twisted clump of metal. White hot rage began to bubble within him as the distant shrill laughter of Uchiha Sasuke reached his ears.

"Sasuke!" He roared as he leapt high in the air, a huge rasengan forming in his hand. Sasuke plunged down, the black chidori crackling in his palms. The shockwaves from the clash flattened everything within a radius of a hundred meters. Sasuke was sent flying by the force of the blow, his ribs cracked and his arm shattered. As he fell, a thought made its way into his mind.

_I am still not strong enough_.

Whether it was pure coincidence or the will of the Gods, but Uchiha Sasuke landed right next to the spot Kabuto had been lurking. His apparent relief at having found the troublesome brat and the roars of a raging toad hermit pushed away any questions he had in his mind as he grabbed Sasuke and activated the portal.

_Please take us somewhere safe!_ Kabuto prayed as he threw Sasuke into the portal and plunged in right after. By the time Jiraya reached, the portal had closed.

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Two figures broke from the surface of the water, dragging a third form between them. The one on the right relinquished his burden and went ahead silently, taking care not to make any noise.

A few minutes later, he reappeared.

"There is a broken down cabin up ahead. We can take shelter there"

"Is it safe? What if the owner comes back?" The other one spoke up.

"We don't have a choice!" The first one replied as he looked upon the prone figure. "He will not last much longer unless we get him to shelter"

Between the two, they half carried, half dragged him to the cabin. Once they reached there, they quickly stripped him of his clothes and hung them in such a way so as to prevent any light escaping from the windows. One built up a fire while the other started rubbing his hands and feet to maintain circulation. They quickly retrieved the small scroll that had been wrapped in a waterproof case. The scroll, once activated, released all the supplies that had been sealed into it. A flask of brandy was forced down his throat. Few seconds later, he began to cough and splutter, his eyelids weakly fluttering.

"Shhh! Rest now. We are safe!"

At those soothing words, he sank back into blissful world of dreams.

As the colour returned to his cheeks, they heaved a sigh of relief. They had done it.

"It was a close call! He nearly got fried back there!"

"Good thing the river comes all the way out till here!"

They both sat side by side, using the wall as support.

"When do you think he will wake up?"

"I don't know, but he better not take too much time. We are not going to last longer as it is"

In the flickering flames, shadows danced upon his face as he slept peacefully.

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The chilling wind howled bitterly as Kabuto struggled to move the rock in place. He sank to his knees, gasping for breath as the rock finally covered the mouth of the cave, blocking the snowstorm that had been threatening to steal away their lives. A little behind, Uchiha Sasuke lay sleeping fitfully. The cursed seal had receded and Kabuto had been forced to use more of his already depleted chakra reserves to heal the most grievous wounds.

The small fire which he had managed to start provided little warmth. Not for the first time, he cursed the Uchiha with all his heart. He was in a place only God knew where. He was cold, hungry, and low on chakra and with no idea as to what to do next. All he knew that unless the Uchiha survived, he would not. Orochimaru had the uncanny ability to track people right to the end s of the world, if needed. Add the fact that he also had the ability to pull souls of dead people back into the world of the living, there was absolutely no escape.

Fortunately, his scroll had a few blankets which he now used for warmth. He lay long, thinking on how to get back to Orochimaru with his prize in one piece before sleep finally overcame him.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 29 – Aftermath

Tsunade stared at the stack of papers in front of her, wondering why she took up the job of being Hokage in the first place. The last two weeks had been a hellish nightmare. On top of that, Sarutobi had deemed it fit to spirit away her cache of sake, which only added to her headache. She sighed as her gaze wandered over to the photo across the table; Naruto sleeping with his mouth open and Temari resting her head on his shoulders. Jiraya had come across those two and had quickly taken a picture.

Sadness filled her. Despite all her efforts, Naruto was gone. He had died a violent death at the hands of a fellow Leaf ninja. To top it off, they did not even have the body for a proper burial, all that remained of him was the twisted mass of metal that had been the Konoha headband he had worked so hard to get and the pile of ashes. She had even done a full check on the ashes to ensure that they indeed, belonged to Naruto.

A bittersweet smile touched her lips as she remembered the huge crowd that had turned up at the funeral. The funeral had been in honour of all the brave leaf ninjas who had died that day, battling the demonic minions of Orochimaru. She had expected only a few people to pay homage to Naruto, but to her shock, more than five hundred people had lined up to place flowers and other tokens of respect on Naruto's grave. Even Hyuuga Hiashi, head of the most prestigious clan in Konoha, had personally come to pay his respects.　

"We owe a lot to hiｍ" He had said quietly to her before leaving.

_Amazing what a couple of public fights can do for one's image_ she thought wryly.

A knock on her door shook her out of her reverie.

"Enter!"

Gaara entered, followed by Temari and Kankuro.

Temari wore a haggard look. Her face was pinched, her eyes were reed and puffy. There were large black circles around her eyes.

Tsunade sighed as she saw her state. But then again, it wasn't much of a surprise.

Temari had been hit hardest by Naruto's passing. The proud Suna ninja had locked herself in her room for three days, weeping bitterly and refusing to meet anyone. Temari had grown close to Naruto in the time she had spent in Konoha. That night, she was going to tell Naruto how she felt about him. But now, everything was gone. In the end, it was Gaara who had kicked the door down and had gone over to comfort her. He said nothing, simply hugged her while she screamed and railed and cried. Once she had calmed down a little, she had been shocked to see scratch marks and bruises on Gaara's face. He had disabled his sand defences the entire time he had been holding her! The very fact that Gaara went to such lengths was enough to snap her out of her misery.

"Hokage sama!" Gaara intoned. "Have you given thought to our request that we be allowed to return to our homes?"

Tsunade started at him for a minute before replying.

"I have talked to the Suna council about this. They will be sending a contingent of ninjas here to escort you back to Suna. I expect they will arrive sometime today."　

She did not miss the grimace that crossed Temari's face. But there was nothing she could do about it. Fortunately, Akatsuki was no longer an immediate threat. Naruto's death had thrown a monkey wrench in their carefully constructed plans. Because of that, they had started to vent their anger on the person they held responsible for, Orochimaru.

There had been reports of an area of roughly two thousand acres having been turned to a charred landscape. That area was also the place that Jiraya's reports seemed to suggest had held the hidden village of Sound. The Akatsuki were on a massive manhunt and unlike their operations before, they made no secret about this one. Plus, they made very messy examples of anyone who they thought was trying to shield Orochimaru.

"Thank you, Hokage sama!" Gaara said before turning towards the door. Kankuro followed a step behind. Temari made to turn, but the stopped, her gaze fixed on something that lay on the desk.

"Hokage sama!" she began hesitantly.

Tsunade waited patiently as she fidgeted.

"Can … can I have that?" Temari pointed to the picture of Naruto and her that lay on the desk.

Tsunade smiled sadly. "Sure!" she said.

Temari took the photo and gently caressed it, then bowed low and walked out of the door.

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Kakashi quickly put away his 'literature' as the handle of the door turned.

"Hi Kakashi sensei!" Sakura greeted as she entered with a large bouquet.

Kakashi smiled at seeing his student, his only student now.

"So how are you feeling now, sensei?" She asked as she sat down on the stool near the bed. Seeing Kakashi in a hospital had been a little weird at first. To a twelve year old genin, a legendary figure like Kakashi always becomes a superman.

"Fine! The doctors told me that all traces of poison are gone from my system. I should be out within a day or two."

Sakura grinned happily at that bit.

"So!" Kakashi whispered conspiratorially. "Did you bring it?"

Sakura winked as she pulled out a small scroll from inside her shirt. A few hand seals later, the two of them were happily munching on roast chicken.

"Ah!" Kakashi sank back on his pillows as he gave a satisfied little burp. "Give me an A rank mission any day over this horrible hospital food. I think we can feed it to the prisoners to make them talk faster."

The two chatted pleasantly for some more time, mainly helping Kakashi catch up with all the small things that had transpired over the past two weeks. She told him how the four genin teams had gathered to raise a small toast to Naruto, where Neiji had gotten roaring drunk and had kissed Ino, mistaking her for Tenten because she had had her hair up in buns, how Hinata had to knock Neiji out after he had clung to her feet and cried for forgiveness for things she did not even remember him doing.

"Kakashi sensei?" Sakura looked at him hesitantly.

Kakashi looked at her quizzically.

"What … what will happen now … I mean what about team seven?" the pink haired girl asked, staring at her feet.

Kakashi sighed audibly. To tell the truth, he had been thinking the same thing for a few days. One of his students was dead, the other one had gone rogue. Technically, he had no team left. He had thought long and hard on Sakura's future and had come to a conclusion that he felt would be the best course of action.

"How would you like to medic nin?" he asked her.

"Medic … nin?" Sakura's gaze was blank.

Kakashi nodded. "As I have said before, your chakra control is one of the best. Considering that we lose about thirty percent of our forces only because they do not receive timely medical attention, a medic nin is absolutely invaluable."

"Plus, as reward for being amongst the first ones to volunteer, you will have to privilege of being tutored by the Godaime Hokage herself." Kakashi smiled as he saw stars appear in Sakura's eyes at the thought of being personally taught by the legendary medic herself.

Kakashi had not told her the whole story. The poison the things had injected into them attacked the chakra coils. Half of those who had survived the onslaught of the poison would never fight again. A large number would now be relegated to simpler missions forever, as their chakra coils were now the capacity of an average chuunin. A very few, like Kakashi, had been fortunate in that even though it would take a year or so to heal, their chakra coils were not permanently damaged.

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Madara could not suppress the whimper that escaped his lips as he stood before the entrance to the cave. The unthinkable had happened. The Kyuubi was no more. He had spent the last two weeks hunting high and low for Orochimaru, but the snake had fallen of the radar completely. With the next alignment due in six months, there was no way he could summon another one of the bijuu in time.

A sharp pain pulsed through his body. His master did not like being made to wait. Madara closed his eyes and forced his wobbly legs to proceed. As he made his way through the dark caverns, his heartbeat thundered in his ears. His limbs felt heavier with each step he took. His mind screamed at him to run, but his body refused to comply.

At last, he reached the massive chambers that lay deep within the cave.

"M … Master" he stuttered as he fell to his knees and touched his forehead to the ground. Uchiha Madara, the strongest Uchiha ever to walk the land, was trembling like a leaf, ready to wet his pants.

"What news, Madara?" the figure asked softly.

Terrified beyond hope, the words rushed out of Madara. "The kyuubi container has been killed by Orochimaru. Our men could not reach the village in time because of Jiraya's traps. Please forgive me master, please forgive …"

His words were cut of as the figure hissed in annoyance. "Ororchimaru. That man never ceases to be a sort of utmost irritation." He looked at the cowering figure of Madara with disdain. "What have you done about that snake?"

Madara swallowed audibly, trying to force some moisture into his dry throat. "We have razed all known hideouts to the ground. We have made examples of those who we thought were providing aid to him, but we could not find any trace of that man."

Silence reigned for a few minutes as the figure sat silently, scratching its chin, before it turned its gaze to Madara.

"I want Orochimaru's head. Don't come back until you have it. I will not have that accursed human mess up my plans again." His voice was cold and filled with the promise of unending pain should Madara fail.

Madara nodded his head as he remained kneeling on the floor.

"Is there something else, human?" it asked when Madara did not move.

"What … what about the kyuubi, master?" he asked in fearful tones.

"What about it?" it replied in a nonchalant fashion. "Go and summon me a new one and this time, don't loose it!"

Madara was puzzled. "But it would take me a year to do that and the alignment …" his voice trailed of as he prepared himself for the blow that would come. When a few minutes passed and the blow never came, Madara carefully lifted his head and peeked at his master.

It sighed. "The alignment is not due for another five years. Is that what you were worried about, little human?" it asked mockingly.

Five years! Madara couldn't believe his ears. Five years! Tears of gratitude rolled down his eyes as the enormity crashed down upon him. Five years, not six months. Trembling, he got up, nodded and started to back out.

"Do not fail me, Uchiha Madara!"

The pure malevolence in the voice, coupled with the stress of the past few minutes, was enough to make him wet his pants as he ran, abandoning all dignity. When he finally stumbled out of the cave, he collapsed. He was alive! If he ever found out the man who had drawn the stellar charts, he would happily kiss him. Five years! Five whole wonderful years! He started chuckling, and then it turned into a full blown laughter. Uchiha Madara lay in the mud, laughing like a madman.

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_Three weeks after the attack …_

He spat to the side to clear his mouth of the dust that seemed to enter every time he opened it to speak. It was harvest season, so the port was bursting to the seams with people and animals. The stench of sweat hung thick in the air.

He handed the documents back to the man and nodded to let him know that it was all right to proceed. He let out a sigh. Every year, it was the same thing. He had tried hard to get assigned to another city, but as usual, his request was swamped by the proverbial red tape and he simply could not afford to buy an assignment out of here.

He shook himself out of the morbid thoughts and signaled the next one to come. His eyebrows raised a fraction as he saw the ticket. It was a one way fare to the port of Nabradia. It was a two months journey even in the best of weathers. His gaze swept upon the owner of the ticket. Brown hair was swept back in an untidy ponytail. His right cheek bore scars and the left cheek was covered with a bandage. He was tall and wiry. He looked to be not more than fifteen years old. Why would a kid want to go to Nabradia?

"Name?" he asked sternly.

"Kaoshi"

"Just Kaoshi, eh?" he said, piercing him with a steely gaze.

The boy nodded.

"Father's name?"

The boy spat to his right. "Dunno! But if you see him, tell him he's got two bastards who will happily cut his throat and feed him to the dogs"

_Ah! That's the way it is, eh?_ The Third Great Ninja war had given rise to a lot of bastards everywhere. It was not surprising, given the fact that invading armies always felt the urge to rape women.

"So Kaoshi, what's your business down at Nabradia?"

He shrugged. "Just want to see the world for a year or so, before I return to help my brother."

"Oh! And what business does your brother run?"

Kaoshi grinned, showing a row of red stained teeth that was usually common amongst the populace of Kusa. There was a particular leaf, which was popular due to its narcotic properties. Unfortunately, it was also popular amongst the children who would somehow manage to get hold of it as it grew almost everywhere. The leaf, when chewed, released a juice that tended to stain the teeth red.

"He runs a whorehouse!" he winked.

"Lucky bastard!"

"Wish I had a brother like that!"

There were similar yells from the crowd who had managed to hear that. As the master of a whorehouse, you made good money and got good pleasure.

"So why do you want to see the world. Whores not good enough?"

Kaoshi grimaced. "That idiot says I am not old enough to help in a whorehouse. Do you know how frustrating it is to see women with curves at all the right places, swinging their hips as they walk past you, teasing you knowing you can't do anything for another year."

"What happened to your cheek?" the overseer pointed to the scars and bandages.

"The scars are from a rogue monkey that had attacked my brother and I when I was little."

"And the left?"

The boy grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, that is a souvenier from a little kitten who got a little too playful, if you get what I mean!" he winked.

The overseer grinned, as did most of the others.

"Okay, report to pier fourteen. Your ship will leave from there." He handed the ticket back to the boy who grinned and walked off.

As he made his way through the crowd, Kaoshi couldn't help grinning. _Talk of whores and people's minds start shutting down_. After showing his ticket the ship's steward, he was directed to a small room. Once the steward had left, he took out his bag. A cursory glance told him that the seals were intact. Satisfied, he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

He soon found himself in front of the massive gates. But this time, there was no sewer. Instead, the landscape had changed into a well lit chamber. Behind the gates, a massive figure shifted and rumbled disconsolately.

"_So, do you have a fixed destination or are we running around aimlessly?"_

"The only tangible lead I have is the mention of an ancient monastery, located deep in the mountains of Kh'tash. It is said to hold knowledge from times immemorial. If there is any place we can find an answer to our predicament, it is that place. To reach Kh'tash, we must travel to Nabradia first."

It sighed as the tails shifted to get into a more comfortable position.

"_I am tired, Uzumaki Naruto. I wish to return home_" it said as it closed its eyes.

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_Six months after the attack …_

Orochimaru licked his lips hungrily as he watched Uchiha Sasuke tear apart fifteen jounins with only his bear hands. Truly, the Sharingan was a gift from the Gods themselves. Sasuke had progressed tremendously in the last six months. In his cursed seal form, he was truly a force to be reckoned with.

_Foolish Jiraya! I guess I should thank you. Your seal mutated my seal, making it even stronger._ Orochimaru smiled in glee. Indeed, Sasuke's form was radically different from the others in terms of power.

"This is boring. When can I go and hunt Itachi?" Sasuke's rasping voice brought him out of his thoughts.

Orochimaru shook his head. For all his genius in combat, he refused to understand the meaning of 'limits'.

"You are not strong enough, Sasuke kun. You must train more; learn more, before you are ready."

"How much longer must I wait?" he screamed. "I am tired of being cooped up in here like a rat."

Orochimaru put on a sad expression. "If you leave now, you will not be able to kill Itachi. What would your parents say if you loose?"

Sasuke's expression immediately became fearful.

"No no no! I can't loose. Itachi has to say sorry to mother and father. I can't disappoint them again." He stood there, shaking his head.

Orochimaru put his arms around the shaking teen. "There there, Sasuke-kun! Why don't you go and rest now. We will train again in the evening." It was so easy to manipulate him.

Soon, he would take over his body and emerge as the ultimate warrior. Then he would hunt down the Akatsuki for destroying all his bases. Then he would start taking over the ninja villages, one-by-one, till he ruled the entire world.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He deactivated his Sharingan as he closed the book. He had found what he had been looking for all these years, but now that he had his answer, he did not know whether to laugh or to cry. The depths to which mankind could sink to gain power still continued to surprise him.

_The Mizukage was right. Those who bear bloodlines are indeed accursed. _

He rubbed his temples to soothe the headache he felt coming again. Long hours in the library and the extensive use of the Sharingan were slowly taking its toll on him. As he caught his reflection in one of the polished shields hanging on the wall, he could see the deep, dark circles under his eyes.

_The abbot is right. I do need to get some rest before I burn out_

He got up, placed the book in its place and left the library. As he reached the ground floor of the monastery, he realized that it was raining hard. He went over to one of the windows to watch the rain pound hard at the landscape. As lightning flashed and thunder roared, his thoughts flew back to a similar stormy night, nearly six years ago. He had lost his ways in the treacherous mountains of Kh'tash. After wandering without food for five days, he had stumbled upon the monastery where he had been taken in by the abbot.

He left the window and continued towards the central hall. Perhaps a warm fire and a bottle of his wine would help him relax. He had taken not more than a dozen steps, when the bells chimed. He frowned as he moved towards the door. Who could it be in such terrible weather?

When he opened the door, he saw a figure wearing a large robe with the hood covering his face. He was drenched and shivering.

"What can I do for you, stranger?" he asked politely, getting a sense of déjà-vu altogether.

The figure pushed back his hood. "I would like shelter from the rain, and an audience with the abbot."

Lightning flashed through the air, briefly illuminating the area to reveal a face not more than fourteen years old. The boy had striking blue eyes, and three whisker-like marks that ran on each side of his cheek.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 30 – Countdown to Armageddon - I

_One year later __…_

"But how can this be …"

"Didn't he die a year ago …"

Tsuande rubbed her temples to ease the headache she was suffering from due to the pandemonium around her. To put it simply, the council of Konoha was in uproar. Tea country had been devastated. All reports said that the devastation had been due to the kyuubi. Even though they would never admit it, most of the people were a little relieved when Naruto had 'died', even Hyuuga Hiashi. At least they would not have to worry about a demon running rampant in this world again. But now …

"Silence!" Tsunade roared as she brought her fists down hard on the table.

All voices ceased immediately.

"Look at you all!" she said disdainfully. "Members of the council of the most powerful ninja village acting like scared rabbits."

A few of the members had the grace to look a little ashamed.

"We will wait for Jiraya to make his report." She continued in a calmer tone. "Till then, I expect you all to behave as befits council members, not spooked genin."

"But …"

The glare that Tsunade sent at him shut him up for good. Though Tsunade was a Hokage now, she apparently had no compunctions about using her fists to make her point. There was complete silence in the room while they waited for Jiraya to arrive and present his report.

It was around ten days ago that news of the destruction of the Tea country had started filtering in. The news came mostly from merchant caravans that were just approaching or had just left the area. What was most disturbing was that all the reports had one common thing; the appearance of the kyuubi. Jiraya had been sent a week ago to find out for certain what was going on.

Ten minutes later, Jiraya entered the room. He wore a blank expression, which frightened the council even more.

"So, what did you find?" Tsunade asked, leaning forward.

Jiraya took a deep breath. "The Tea country was destroyed by … a kyuubi."

The instant he said that, the council members started shouting and yelling again, till Tsunade banged her table so hard that it split in two.

"The next member who starts squealing like a scared girl, gets tossed out of the window" she roared.

She turned to Jiraya and nodded to indicate that she wanted him to continue.

"We questioned the survivors. All of them were vehement on the fact that it was a demon, as large as a lord's castle, looked like a fox and had nine tails."

"But that's impossible. It died with that Uzumaki!" A frantic council member jumped to his feet. Unfortunately, the next minute, he was trying best to land on his feet as Tsunade tossed him out of the window.

Jiraya looked around. "I think it would be better if the civilian council left. The information I have does not concern them. We can give them the gist later on."

Slowly, the civilian members trickled out. Some of them looked like they wanted to protest, the absolute look of fury on Tsunade's face told them discretion was the better part of valor.

After everyone had left, Jiraya continued from where he had left off. "The demon apparently did not have any particular goal; rather it was simply running around in a rampage. It had leveled most of the Tea country till it was caught by the Akatsuki."

Tsunade was stunned, as was the rest of the council. The Akatsuki?

Hyuuga Hiashi spoke up. "But we know for a fact the Uzumaki Naruto perished that fateful night. Might this not be some sort of an elaborate ruse to spread panic amongst the populace?"

Jiraya nodded. "That was my first thought, till I examined the ruins carefully. First, the chakra signature was definitely that of a demon's. There can be no mistake about it. Secondly, it is quite similar to the kyuubi's we fought almost fourteen years ago."

Tsunade felt a knot growing in her stomach. Did he mean …?

"So what you are saying is that this is altogether a new nine-tailed demon?" Aburame Shibi voiced the fears of all present.

Jiraya nodded. "I had taken Ino Yamanaka with me to verify the tales. Those people did see a demon. But, the appearance was quite different from the one that had attacked Konoha. But the thing that worries me is that apparently, the Akatsuki came within an hour of the demon's arrival, indicating that they knew it would come."

"Then the only logical conclusion is that they summoned it." Nara Shikaku said.

The council started murmuring. If demons could be summoned, then none of the Great Ninja villages were safe.

Tsunade groaned as she buried her head in her hands. After a minute, she turned to Jiraya.

"If they can really summon the bijuu, what prevented them from doing it earlier? You did mention they were collecting them for a specific reason"

Jiraya shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe the ritual takes time, or maybe only one kyuubi can exist in our world. It's been a little more than a year since Naruto's death, and a kyuubi makes its appearance now."

He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, looking suddenly like a very old man bent with the ravages of time. "I have sent my agents all around with instructions to collect each and every scrap of information related to demons, no matter how ludicrous it sounds. At this point, our greatest weakness is our complete lack of information"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes. For now, that's perhaps the only thing we can do." She swept her gaze upon the council. "I would also request all of you to raid your family libraries to see if we can dig up anything to help us."

She turned to Jiraya. "You'll have to keep roaming and searching for clues outside."

Jiraya nodded and turned to leave. He stopped midway and stopped.

"Actually, I would request that Ino Yamanaka be allowed to go with me."

Tsunade looked at him incredulously. "You expect me to send a newly promoted chuunin with you for an indefinite amount of time? Give me one good reason I should!"

Jiraya simply turned to Inoichi, who was sitting there looking unhappy. Feeling the gazes of everyone on him, he took a deep breath.

"Ino has developed a rather …. unique ability. It allows her to project an image of what she gleans from another's mind directly in front of her."

Tsunade's eyebrow rose a fraction. That was indeed an impressive ability.

"But that still doesn't tell me why you need her. Take another Yamanaka and have him or her simply tell you what he saw." She told Jiraya.

"In times like this, every bit is crucial. It would be immensely beneficial to actually see someone's thoughts. Make it an extended A rank mission or something."

Tsunade was taken aback. Jiraya had sounded pretty irritated.

_Guess I __have no choice then. But I really have my reservations about sending an innocent girl with a pervert like him_. Tsunade thought darkly as she signed the necessary papers.

That done, she then turned to the next monstrous task at hand; dealing with the civilian council. Tea country was neutral and an important trade route and a trade partner to many nations. Its destruction would have severe repercussions on the economy. Worse, her main supply of sake came from there.

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Uchiha Madara rolled weakly to his side as he coughed up blood. He felt as weak as a two day old kitten. He had forgotten how much energy it took to complete the ritual. It was fortunate the other members of the Akatsuki were not aware of this place. Some of them would clearly have loved to take advantage of his weakness to usurp his place as the leader.

He winced as a fresh wave of pain hit his body. Things were not going as smoothly as he would have liked them to be.

It was now over a year since they had started hunting for Orochimaru, but no matter how many of his bases they destroyed, they never got him. It was as if he had dropped of the face of the earth. Plus, he had Sasuke now. Orochimaru with the power of the Sharingan was not something he cared to contemplate. With his knowledge of genetics, he could very well mutate it into something very, very deadly. Unlike the other Uchihas, he was not a firm believer in the 'Uchihas are supreme' rant. One did not live to be over a hundred years with that kind of a mentality.

Then the kyuubi he had summoned managed to appear in Tea country. Even though it had been caught, the whole world would now know that a kyuubi walked the earth once more. Plus, reports of the Akatsuki would soon be making rounds. Though it would not make any difference in the end, it would certainly make proceedings more troublesome.

He rolled on his back and closed his eyes as he tried to sleep. He would deal with things as they came. For now, he needed to rest and recover his strength.

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Uzumaki Naruto, or Brother Nathan as he was called, sat in the library pouring over the books there. He had been here for four months and had been thrilled to find that his little gamble had paid off. This monastery was a veritable treasure trove of knowledge. It held the knowledge of everything for the past few millennia. Between him and his many shadow clones, he was confident of finding out what he exactly needed in under a year.

_And so, dissatisfied and hungry for power, they turned their backs on centuries of their teachings and traditions and went on a journey to seek a more 'convenient' source of power. It was during one of these travels that they encountered Him. _

_Since the beginning of time, He had always wanted more dominance than what was granted to him. Powerful he was, but not enough to openly challenge the might of his brethren. For that, he would need followers of his own. Perhaps it was fate that delivered them into His hands._

_And thus were the first batch of forsaken created. He pulled beings from other planes and fused them with the forsaken, creating beings who had specialized innate abilities. These abilities varied depending upon the type of creature they had fused with. Of course, such beings did not last very long, but they did last enough to mate and produce progeny. These progeny had the same abilities as their parents, although the strength was diluted. But they no longer had their parent's limited lifespan._

_For a little over two centuries, He built his army of forsaken, who were now drunk with their powers, powers that were innate and not the result of long and arduous training. The ranks swelled as more and more joined them, lured by the promise of easy power. Unfortunately, such activities escaped our notice, paving the way for the tragedy that followed._

Naruto laughed. He laughed and laughed till his sides ached. Oh what sweet irony! So this was the secret of bloodlines, the focus of all the great respect and adulation. Normal humans fused with demons. What would the people back home do to the Hyuugas and Akamichis if they knew the truth? He was still chuckling when he got back to reading the rest of the passage.

_Thus began the war that was named 'The Great Annihilation'. The forsaken struck during the Gathering, when most of the Sh'akh, along with the High Priests and Priestesses would be attending the ceremony in the capital. The outlying cities were the first to fall, swiftly and savagely. Such was the ferocity of the attacks that very few managed to escape. By the time the High Council fully realized the enormity of the situation, the enemy was already at the gates and every other city had been completely and utterly destroyed. _

_The fight that ensued shook the very fabric of the world. Elemental energies of magnitudes unimaginable were unleashed. The forsaken were sure of their victory, for they outnumbered their enemy by more than a hundred to one. But, they had not counted the level of power one could gain by taking the true path. _

_Within a day, the forsaken army was decimated. For every one of ours that fell, more than ten thousand paid in blood. It was almost the end for them, when He appeared. When he saw his army on the verge of defeat, he unleashed his terrible energies on us. We stood no chance as scores died instantly. Battered and exhausted, we awaited our final moments as he approached. We could only hope that there were a few out there who had survived this terrible day._

_He lifted His hands to strike us down, but halted as the sounded of blazing trumpets filled the air. Our hearts soared with joy as They appeared in Their glory. Foolishly, he thought to strike his brethren down. The battle lasted only a few heartbeats, but to us, it seemed as if it lasted eons. In a single instant, the face of the world was forever altered. The earth screamed as the energies released from the clash nearly ripped it apart. It was all we could do just to stay alive. When it was all over, He lay on the ground, bound in chains innumerable. He continued to scream and curse as they bound him deep beneath the earth. _

_Our order is now finished, and we hope the forsaken are finished too. The great cities we built, with the monuments and centers of learning and excellence are all gone now. Our temples are gone, turned to rubble. Our libraries are gone, the knowledge held within returned to the earth. I write this to tell the future generations of what has transpired, in case He walks the lands once again._

_--- Archpriest Elzarion_

Naruto rubbed his eyes as he closed the book. After reading this, the only conclusion was that this 'He' character was back. It was the only explanation he could think of as to why there were bijuu roaming the earth once more.

"But who the hell is 'He'? Why isn't any name mentioned here?" Naruto asked aloud, feeling a little frustrated. How was he supposed to find out who or what this 'He' was?

"His true name is now forgotten because the survivors wanted to wipe him off the pantheon. Refusing to name someone is the first step in erasing him from the annals of history, or so people believe, Uzumaki Naruto"

Naruto shot up from his chair, knocking over the half a dozen books that were stacked in the corner of the table. It was Brother Erik. He had been so engrossed studying the book that he had not noticed Erik's arrival.

His heart hammered like crazy as he struggled to keep an impassive face.

"Uzumaki Naruto? I am afraid you are mistaken, Brother" he said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

Erik laughed as he shook his head.

"Mistaken? Oh no, young Uzumaki! Blue eyes, whisker marks on each cheek, plus a face which looks quite similar to the young child everyone kept telling me to avoid."

Naruto snorted. "Lots of people have blue eyes. As for whisker marks, these are scars that …"

"You got when the Yondaime sealed the kyuubi into you." Erik finished. "It is the only reasonable explanation for the illogical hatred that was directed towards you. Plus, from what I have learned, it is impossible for a human to kill a tailed demon."

Naruto stared at him for a few minutes, then smiled coldly.

"You must be Uchiha Akira, the only Uchiha whose body was never found when Itachi butchered your clan like chicken"

Akira sighed sadly and sat down in the chair, while gesturing to Naruto to take a seat.

"Rightly guessed! How did you found out?"

Naruto sat down, while watching the man like a hawk. His only experience with the Uchiha was Sasuke. Needless to say, he was as fond of them as people are fond of poisonous insects.

"I sneak around a lot." He replied.

Seeing that Naruto was wound up tighter than a spring coil, he raised his hands in a placating manner.

"Please! I mean you no harm. It's just that I never expected you, of all the people to end up in this place."

Naruto simply stared, not trusting this man.

Akira sighed. "Look. If I really wanted to harm you, I would have simply poisoned your food or ambushed you. I wouldn't have come here and revealed that I knew who you were."

After a few minutes, Naruto nodded slowly. He still did not trust him, but for the moment, he was willing to suspend judgment.

"So, why are you here and how did you get away?" he asked.

Akira told him about the attack. He sighed as he finished. "When I woke up, I was all alone in some sort of a tunnel. I was wounded, hungry, thirsty and scared, very, very scared. "

"I kept walking till my legs gave out. Then I crawled, the fear of that man spurring me on. Just when I thought I could go no more, I felt a fresh breeze on my face. After a minute, I found my self on the outer perimeter of the forests that border Konoha. Thankfully, there was a lake there and plenty if bushes with berries. After assuaging my hunger and thirst, I fell asleep, too tired to even think."

"It took me two days to reach the nearest settlement, which turned out to be a huge port. By that time, the story of the Uchiah Massacre had spread like wildfire over every nation. Hearing those stories instilled fear in me again. What if he found me? That moment, I simply wanted to run far, far away, where no one who knew anything about Uchihas would ever find me"

"After careful searching, I found a captain who was travelling to Nabradia. I got myself hired as a cabin boy and reached Nabradia. There, I tried to eke out a meager living by doing odd jobs here and there. People are basically the same everywhere, a little distrustful of outsiders."

Akira paused as he reached under his robes. Naruto tensed, but relaxed a little as he saw him bring out a bottle.

"This is one of the finest wines in this land!" Akira proclaimed, taking a swig.

"I would have offered some to you, but Father would have my hide if I offered wine to a kid." He grinned apologetically.

"Anyway!" he continued after a few more sips. "Once I sort of settled down, my fear and paranoia gave way to thoughts of revenge. I wanted nothing more than to rip Itachi into tiny pieces. Unfortunately, I was in a land where people in general did not know what ninjas were, they only had a vague idea that they got from merchants and travelers."

"It was then I heard of a monastery said to house all the knowledge in the world. I decided I would seek this place out. So almost seven years ago, freezing and almost near death, I stumbled upon this place. Why no one bothered to make a proper map, I really can't figure out."

There was pin drop silence for the next few minutes, broken only by the sounds of Akira sipping his wine, while Naruto gazed stonily at him.

Akira sighed as he put down the bottle.

"Still don't trust me fully eh?"

Naruto shook his head. "I almost got skewered by Uchiha Sasuke, and all because he did not like the fact that a clanless bastard was able to defeat him in the chuunin examinations. Itachi works for a criminal organization that has dedicated itself to harnessing the power of the bijuu. When I was young and there were Uchihas around, I knew a lot of them who would stop to spit at me. Now you tell me if I should trust you"

Akira nodded. "Yes, but then again, you are simply stereotyping me based on your interactions with a few members of my clan. Not everyone is a cold fish, you know. "

"Plus" he leaned forward, "What if I told you I have the knowledge you are searching for?"

A raised eyebrow was Naruto's only indication that he was intrigued, a little at least.

"You came here, running away from your village, because you wanted to know if there is a way to get rid of your tenant. I know things that can help you"

Naruto looked at him skeptically.

"Why would you help me?" he scoffed.

Akira leaned back and looked at the boy in front of him. His voice suggested he was disinterested, but his eyes told him that he was desperate for this knowledge.

"Because the means lie in a place I cannot go alone. I would suspect you are a trained ninja. Even if you are not, the fact that you are a jinchuuriki would be of immense help."

"And what is this fearsome place?" Naruto asked.

Akira smiled. "The lost city of Acheron, the capital city of the Ancients, the seat of power of the Archpriests"


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 31 – Countdown to Armageddon, II

_Two __and a half years later …_

A blonde, effeminate man trudged through the sandy expanses of Suna. A step behind him was a man who walked with a slight stoop. He was covered from head to toe in a black robe, with the hood drawn in. There was no way to tell if he was bent from age or by some other, unseen weight he carried on his shoulder.

"Tell me once again why we are strolling through this never ending desert!" the blonde one spit to his right, trying to clear his throat of the sand that had somehow managed to creep in.

"We are here to catch the jinchuuriki of the one tailed beast, Deidara. I wish you would stop trying to make a nuisance out of yourself." The hunched one spoke. Though his tone was no more than a whisper, it had a sharpness to it that made the one called Deidara flinch.

"I know Sasori danna. What I meant is, why us? Why not send us after the two tailed beast or something? At least they don't live in the middle of a God forsaken desert!" He grumbled.

They walked for a few minutes before Sasori replied. "You are most suited to the task of breaking through its sand defenses and I am your partner. Therefore, we have been ordered to retrieve it. Think about it, it would be a great challenge for you to come up with an explosive that breaks through its defenses but not kill it."

Deidara nodded, slightly mollified and trudged forward. He wanted to fly out, but it had been forbidden. There was no sense is alerting an already paranoid ninja village. Every village that owned a jinchuuriki had gone into high alert after the container of the two tails had been taken out. A very low powered genjutsu helped camouflage them. It was not very good, but it would get them close enough to the village where it would no longer matter.

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Sasuke stared drowsily at the tip of the needle that was slowly advancing towards his eye. Normally, he would have blasted the needle and the man who approached before he got within ten feet, but the drugs that were coursing through his veins firmly kept all belligerent actions in check.

He could only stare dumbly as the tip of the needle went smoothly inside his pupil, stayed there for a few seconds as the liquid inside the syringe emptied into his eye and the pulled out. The pain hit him after a minute. He threw back his head in a wordless scream as pure agony coursed through his eye. His hands clenched and lifted to rip the painful thing out if his body, but they would not move. His hands had been bound, tightly. As the agony continued to climb, he sought release in the only way left to him; he screamed.

Uchiha Sasuke continued to scream, his body thrashing so violently that he threatened to tip over the bed he was bound to. His palms bled where his finger nails had dug deep into his flesh. Barely a minute had passed, but to Sasuke, it seemed like an eternity. Soon, the pain overwhelmed him and he slid into blessed unconsciousness.

"How soon before he wakes up?"

"About an hour, Ororchimaru sama" Kabuto answered, wiping the sweat of his forehead.

For almost two years, Orochimaru and Kabuto had worked together to create a serum that would enhance the sharingan. Itachi's sharingan had evolved beyond the three tome stage and only he knew the path to that. Orochimaru was no fool. He knew that the power to crush Akatsuki and rule the world for eternity lay in unlocking the secrets of the sharingan. So he surmised that if they couldn't enhance it the natural way, he would force it to evolve.

_A year more, just one year more, after that, I will have taken over Sasuke's body and the greatest power on the earth shall be mine._ Orochimaru chuckled, the laughed. Behind him, Kabuto heaved a sigh of relief. At least for now, he would not be the object of his master's anger.

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"You are really getting the hang of things pretty fast" Akira said as Naruto and a dozen of his clones sat serenely, each levitating a boulder in front of him. Then slowly, the boulders started moving. Within a minute, each boulder had been sent back to its pedestal.

Naruto smiled as he opened his eyes and dispelled his clones. He immediately grabbed the basin next to him and started throwing up. Akira sighed as he took out the herb compress and went over to him. This happened every time Naruto used more than two clones for practice. Using more than that created tremendous pressure on his brain, much, much more than usual ninja training. Personally, he thought that it was only because of the kyuubi's healing powers that his head had not exploded yet.

Naruto mumbled his thanks as he took the compress and pressed it against his head.

With a flick of his finger, he got a small fire started. He then heated up the stew, poured some on a bowl and passed it to Naruto. Naruto put the compress aside, then began eating slowly, forcing himself to swallow the food.

"You really should take it a little easy, you know?" Akira said between bites as he munched away on a roast bird. "We can't have you injuring yourself permanently."

Naruto sighed as he put the bowl down. "I know, but we don't have time"

Akira said nothing as he continued his meal. If there deductions were true, then they only had about thirty odd months at best. Too little time for what they had to accomplish. The training took simply far too much time. Using shadow clones sped up the process, but only by a fraction, unlike ninja training, where they sped it up by a huge amount. Plus, taking into consideration that using shadow clones in this case overloaded your brain, it was really not an option.

Still, whatever progress they had made could be attributed solely to Naruto's insanely high number of shadow clones. There were around three thousand clones sitting and translating the books. The fact that it had taken an army of three thousand to decipher just one book about a month, spoke of the lengths the ancients had taken to prevent the knowledge from falling into the wrong hands.

Thirty months! If you took into consideration that even by the fastest means of transportation it would take them two months to get to Nabradia and then by the fastest ship, it would take them about two months to get to Wave, then had only twenty six months. A little over two years was all they had.

_Then I suppose I must make most of the time we have at hand_ Akira thought as he slipped into a trance, parting the curtains between worlds to step into Shul'Monagh, or "The World of Dreams", as the ancients called it. Naruto's talents lay in elemental manipulation, probably due to the extensive training he had had as a ninja. Akira's talents lay elsewhere. Even though it did not seem useful, it was, till now, the only thing had had been able to pick up.

The landscape was dull, with a sparse coverage of greenery. Akira grimaced.

_I still can't get the landscape to remain stable_

Akira cursed as he concentrated. The area shimmered briefly before changing into something even more desolate. He cursed again. He just couldn't get to create a landscape that did not hook up to his emotions. So, the more frustrated he got, the worse the landscape became. After around thirty minutes, he was standing in the middle of something that would have sent the devil screaming.

"Aaaarhj!" he screamed as he tore at his hair. "Stupid Elzarion and his stupid books"  
He then spent the next ten minutes cursing everyone and everything.

"Your vocabulary is quite colourful, young man"

Akira's head whipped towards the source of the voice.

It was an old man, sitting on an easy chair with a very amused expression.

"It this really that hard to do?" he asked as the landscape changed immediately, from a place of nightmares to a beautiful meadow.

Akira tensed up. This man had appeared in his mindscape and had changed it without any apparent effort.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The man laughed. "Well, you did spent the last few minutes cursing me"

"Impossible!" Akira went pale. Elzarion had to be dead. He had been the Archpriest over three thousand years ago. "You're supposed to be dead"

The man simply waved dismissively. "I am dead, sort of"

"What do you mean, sort of?"

"Hmmm…" Elzarion scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Let's say that I created myself here"

"But enough about me" he said jovially. "I would like to know what you are doing here"

Akira caught the underlying threat in his words, which killed all thoughts of lying. This man was a master in his craft and could easily crush him like a bug.

Slowly, he started to tell the tale of what had happened. Elzarion sat scratching his chin, not speaking a word throughout the narrative.

"Interesting" he said when Akira had finished.

Akira waited nervously as Elzarion closed his eyes and slowly began to rock back and forth.

"It seems that once more, the knowledge we thought would never be wielded again, must be taught"

Akira stared at him.

"You are going to teach me?" he asked incredulously.

Elzarion shrugged. "Well, I have seen you struggle and curse your way for almost a year now, without much success."

"You were watching me!" Akira's eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you help me back then?"

"I simply thought you had wandered here accidentally. It was not until today, when you cursed me and my books that I realized you had stumbled across our temple and were trying to learn something you should not be."

Elzarion smiled. "But nevertheless, the fact that you managed to translate the book and reach here, all within the space of a year is pretty impressive. In our days, we had to study for almost six years before we could even start reading the basics"

Akira grinned. "Its not hard if you have a partner who can summon up more than a thousand cloned."

"Ah yes" Elzarion said, nodding his head. "But you said, partner. I thought he would be your friend."

Akira looked away grimacing. "He trusts almost no one. He agreed to be my partner because I possessed what he needed."

"I see"

Akira let the silence drag for a dew minutes before speaking up. "So, how much time will it take me to learn all that you can teach me"

"About thirty years, give or take a few" Elzarion replied absently as he resumed rocking on his chair.

"Thirty years!" Akira exclaimed loudly. "We do not have that much time. The next alignment is a little more than two years away"

"Hmm……"

Akira stared at him. The whole world was in danger and all he could say was 'hmm….' Was this guy really the legendary archpriest?

"But what makes you so sure about that" Elzarion looked at him thoughtfully.

"We aren't sure of anything, but this is the only logical explanation that fits" Akira snapped. "I for one don't want to wake up one fine day and discover that a power crazed immortal is running rampant in my world."

"Well … there is a way to speed up your training so that we can cover the basics in two years" Elzarion said thoughtfully.

"But …" Akira prompted

"But it will shorten your life span, to anything by twenty to thirty years"

"When do we start?" Akira asked, stretching his arms.

Elzarion looked at the man in front of him with amusement. "Now would be as good a time as any."

Akira nodded. "One question though"

"Yes?"

"You seem pretty indifferent to what I might do with this power. For all you know, I might be lying to you just to get power enough to rule the world" Akira said slowly, watching the old man.

Elzarion smiled sadly. "This is not a power one can wield without consequences, child. Why do you think the forsaken looked for an alternative source of power? Your ninja techniques rely on chakra, which is a part of you. It's like using the muscles in your arms and legs. "

He sighed. "Every time you use this power, you sacrifice some of your life span, for this is unworldly power, the power of the Gods. Image spending years and years trying to master it, only to find that you had to be very careful as to how much you used or you would age rapidly and then die."

Akira looked bewildered. "But why would the Gods give you such a thing?"

Elzarion shook his head. "You have seen the darkness that lurks inside humans. They knew that to give us power with no strings attached would result in utter destruction of this world."

_No wonder the forsaken turned to Him. _ Akira thought.

Elzarion spoke "I will teach you what I believe you will need if your calculations are correct. But we warned. Combined with the training and the subsequent use of this power, your life span will be severely shortened."

Akira smiled "My lifespan will be of no consequence if He breaks loose."

"Then let us start" Elzarion gestured as the world around them returned to its previous nightmarish scene.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sasori looked at his partner, who was tossing feverishly on his bed. Deidara was missing his left arm and leg and he was extremely pale due to severe blood loss. Sasori had cauterized the wounds to prevent infection, but he did not have any idea what to do next. Zetsu was the most skilled amongst them in medical knowledge and he was out. For that matter, every Akatsuki member was out. When you have lived as a puppet for over fifty years, medical care became unnecessary, which was also why he had not been able to treat Deidara.

His thoughts were dark as he left the room to go to his workshop. The whole operation had been a total disaster. For an organization that was supposed to be highly secretive, the enemy had possessed far too much knowledge about them. Either they had a plant, or Jiraya was far more resourceful than any of them imagined. Gaara had kept his puppets at bay with his sand, while a blond kunoichi kept blowing Deidara's clay explosives away with high level wind techniques. The whole fight had lasted barely five minutes, in which most of his puppets had been reduced to kindling and Deidara had more or less exhausted his explosives. Then without warning, Gaara had shifted his focus on Deidara, catching him off guard. He had then proceeded to crush his arm and leg. For the first time in his life, Sasori had felt desperation. He launched a volley of poison darts, hoping to catch the jichuuriki off guard, but he had simply batted them away. Fortunately, one of the darts had ricochet of a boulder and hit the kunoichi. Seeing her hurt, Gaara had fled to her side, forgetting about the battle. Sasori had taken that opportunity to unleash his final army of puppets, grab Deidara and escape.

He shook his head as he entered his workshop. The old method of two man teams would simply not work any more. The targets were too well guarded for that. They needed more firepower.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura staggered out of the operation theatre, supported by a nurse. She thankfully sank down on a chair in the doctor's room, feeling drained, physically and emotionally.

The door banged open as Kankuro charged in, followed by a little more sedate Gaara.

"How is she?" Kankuro demanded. His face was pale and his hands were clenched.

"Alive!" Sakura responded tiredly.

"Alive! I know she is alive! I want to know how …" Kankuro's tirade was cut off as Gaara placed his hand on his shoulder, firmly.

Sakura watched as he took a chair opposite to her. It was common knowledge by now that Gaara was a jinchuuriki, much like Naruto. After his death, news had leaked out, presumably by Kakashi who had got roaring drunk and had cried his heart out in the pub about how he had failed his students. Tsunade sama did not take any action against him despite the Sandaime's laws. Far from tarnishing his memories, the younger generation now held him in even higher esteem. People now compared Uchiha Sasuke and Naruto, as how one who had been hated had held on to his sanity and the one who had been revered had let his hatred of his brother turn him into a traitor.

"Sakura san, will Temari be all right?" Gaara asked, his voice trembling by only the barest of minimum.

Sakura took a deep breath. "She is alive, but we have been forced to keep her in a state of suspended animation. The poison that infected her replicates rapidly. We would take out the poison in one area and move on to the next, only to discover that the poison from other areas had infected the earlier area again. Many of her organs are damaged."

Kankuro slumped down in a chair. This couldn't be happening.

Gaara closed his eyed for a few seconds then opened them again. "So, is there no hope for her?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know. For now, we are administering doses of antidote at regular intervals to keep the poison from spreading. As soon as I get back to Konoha, I will ask Hokage sama if she has a solution to this. If she does not, then we will work to make one."

The look of anguish sent a stab of pain through her heart. Over the past two years, Gaara had worked very hard to gain some semblance of normalcy in his behaviour. With that, he had grown very close to Temari. Having had no family for the first thirteen years in his life, he was extremely dependent on Temari for emotional support. If she died …

"Gaara san" Sakura said softly, laying her hand on his. "Please do not give up hope. Tsunade sama is the world's best medic by far. She will find a solution to this, I promise you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Now Sasuke-kun, show me what your new Sharingan is capable of" Orochimaru whispered.

Sasuke stood facing a dozen missing nins who had been captured by Kabuto to be 'training fodder' for him. His Sharingan spun to life. The left eye opened to reveal three jagged lines, like lightning bolts, radiating from his pupil. As the missing nins charged Sasuke roared. Black bolts lashed out from his left eye and struck the charging ninjas.

They had no time to dodge or defend. The bolts reduced them to ashes instantly. Sasuke howled with laughter at seeing his enemies fall so easily. His laughter was suddenly cut of as pain erupted in his eye. Gasping, he fell to his knees. Kabuto rushed over to him to see what was wrong.

Sasuke's left eye was weeping blood. A quick diagnostic revealed that his eye was hemorrhaging. Kabuto's hands glowed green as the bleeding slowed to a trickle and then stopped all together.

Both of them looked up at the sounds of clapping.

"Well done, Sasuke kun." This is truly a match for your brother's Amaterasu technique. You are now quite close to avenging your clan. "

With that he turned and walked away. _And you are quite close to giving me the ultimate power, young Uchiha_


	33. Chapter 33

AN: When I say; _A year later … _or _Two years later …_, the reference point is the day Naruto 'died'.

Also, my thanks to all who have taken time out to review my chapters Reviews are what motivate a writer to keep writing, so please keep reviewing. ^__^.

PS: Sorry for the late update. I hardly get time to do things these days due to increased work in office.

* * *

Chapter 32 – Countdown to Armageddon, III

_Three and a hal__f years after later …_

Orochimaru's head shot up as the door in the laboratory banged open as an extremely angry looking Uchiha Sasuke barged in.

"So, when were you going to tell me that you planned to move into my body?" Sasuke asked slowly, each word laced with venom.

He laughed as he saw Orochimaru's surprised frown. He activated his sharingan, the left one turning red and revealing three jagged marks, while the right was a milky blue with no marks.

"I can pull out the truth out of anyone's brains, you stupid snake!" He grinned evilly as he tapped his right eye. "Your precious little Kabuto is now nothing more than a drooling vegetable with his brains turned to mush."

Orochimaru stared at him before erupting into a throaty laugh. Now it was Sasuke's turn to frown.

"This is even better than I expected. Thank you, Sasuke kun, for unlocking the final stages of your sharingan." He sneered as he pushed a button on the console.

The room was filled with a keening sound as thousands of darts launched at him. Sasuke laughed as he dodged them with ease, his sharingan slowing down their motion enough for him to move away unharmed. His laughter died as he felt something prick the sole of his foot.

"Impressive is the sharingan, but it still does not give you a three-sixty degree vision, you little brat." Orochimaru gloated as Sasuke's sharingan began to flicker on and off.

"What did you do to me?" Sasuke gasped as a burning sensation filled his body.

Orochimaru laughed as he saw Sasuke struggling to keep his sharingan activated.

"That's a special drug that I developed. It suppresses a person's bloodline temporarily"

"Why you …" Sasuke struggled to his feet, breathing heavily as his eyes reverted to normal. He forced chakra into his eyes, but all he felt was a sharp pain every time he did that. His sharingan would activate for a second or so and then shut down again.

"Plus, it also disrupts your motor functions. You won't be ale to pull of anything that would cause me trouble." Orochimaru said as he slowly advanced towards his prey.

Sasuke threw a punch, but it missed completely as Orochimaru dodged it and backhanded him viciously, knocking him to the ground. Sasuke grit his teeth as Orochimaru yanked him up by his hair and punched him, this time breaking his nose. He gasped as sharp pain flared through his face.

"Did you really think that I would not make provisions for your non-cooperation?" Orochimaru hissed as he stared down at Sasuke, who was gasping in pain.

"Foolish boy, I have spent nearly four years on you, sacrificed everything I have just so that I could gain your power. And you thought you could just come sauntering in, benefit of my training and research and then leave me with nothing?" Orochimaru's voice rose to a shriek as he slammed Sasuke into the wall, the loud crack announcing that the Uchiha had broken his left shoulder.

Waves of dizziness washed through Sasuke as he fought to remain upright, his left arm hanging limp. Through a haze of pain, he saw Orochimaru perform a few hand seals, then grab his shoulder. He felt, rather than saw, Orochimaru leaving his body and pressing against his own. It was like a bitter cold wind, seeping down to his very being. He struggled weakly, but Orochimaru just came on. Sasuke retreated till he was down to the core of his being, fighting desperately to gather enough strength to push him out.

_Foolish little brother!_

Sasuke jerked.

_You are weak!_

The fear began to fade. A cold anger began to form.

_You do not hate enough! You will always be weak!_

The cold fire burst into an inferno.

"I am not weak" he screamed, summoning power from the core of his being, his hatred for his brother pushing past the drugs and the pain to rise once more. Orochimaru jerked back, screaming as deadly arcs of lightning spread across Sasuke's body. Orochimaru had not yet fully entered Sasuke's body, so the pain hit him hard, causing him to retreat.

Sasuke roared in pain and fury as he grappled with Orochimaru, who still dangled halfway between his body and Sasuke's, which left him unable to utilize his full powers.

Both the adversaries, racked with pain, staggered for a few moments before they reached the edge of one of the tanks in the room. Orochimaru dimly recognized the danger they were in and thrashed wildly to free himself. Unfortunately, Sasuke was maddened with pain and anger and had gone berserk. Sasuke shoved hard and the next moment, both fell into the tank. The chemicals in the tank were a new mixture, untested. Pain greater than anything they had known erupted in the bodies. Sasuke started screaming, Orochimaru started a moment later.

Guards rushed into the laboratory as they heard their master screaming in pain. But when they entered, they found no one. The only thing that caught their eye was broken tiles on the walls. The pattern of the cracks told them that something big had crashed into the wall and had crashed hard. The screams that had brought them here were gone. The only sound in the room was the sound of their own breathing and the gentle hum of the machines.

"Check the room thoroughly. You, go inform Kabuto sama"

With that, the guards scattered throughout the room and one went off to inform Kabuto of the strange happening in the lab.

In groups of two, the guards started searching the lab inch by inch. They had their weapons out, just in case. Too many tales of Orochimaru's pet horrors had been making the rounds in the barracks at night for them to feel anything but terrified. Time crept by as each group carefully went through their designated areas. When they had finished after thirty minutes, they let out a sigh of relief. There was nothing there.

"Gee! I could have sworn I heard him scream" the captain rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

The other guards were fidgeting nervously. The lab was a place of death and destruction and they did not want to stay there longer than they absolutely had to. It was then that the lone guard who had gone in search of Kabuto came rushing in, pale and out of breath.

"Sir! It's Kabuto sama! He's … he's …!"

The guards never got to know what happened to Kabuto as one of the tanks exploded, sending jagged pieces of glass flying everywhere. Three of the guards were literally cut to ribbons. The rest received wounds ranging from mild to severe. Only the captain remained unscathed, as he had been standing behind another tank which shielded him from the deadly barrage. After a few seconds which he took to recover from the shock, his eyes swept across the scene of the carnage. Few other tanks had cracked, letting their dangerous contents out in the open. One such content lazily wound itself towards one of the guards. As soon as it came in contact with him, the guard started screaming. The captain watched in mute horror as the poor guard began to dissolve right in front of his eyes.

Snapping out of his daze, he hurled a kunai at the guard's throat, killing him instantly. By then, the horrific screams had spurred the others into movement as they limped or crawled away from the path of the liquids that were slowly spreading around. They watched in horror as various liquids began to fill the room. Some of them started eating away the machinery, causing small sparks to fly around. The guards looked nervously at each other. If any of the liquids were flammable …

A wet gurgle made them turn around. The guard who had been standing the farthest had a claw protruding from his chest. The rest could only watch in sick revulsion as the claw swept upwards, cleaving the hapless man in half. The twin halves of the dead guard fell to the ground, revealing the figure of …. Uchiha Sasuke.

The captain grew cold at the sight of Sasuke. Half his face was mottled, just like a snake's. On top of that, his skin was unnaturally pale and his right eye was just like a …snake's. Sasuke, or rather the thing that looked like him laughed. The laugh sounded like a high pitched screech, only the expression on his face telling that he was laughing.

Now totally unnerved by all that had been happening, the guards made a run for it, at least they tried to. Sasuke moved like lightning. Two guards went down with gaping holes in their chests before they had taken even two steps. Sasuke's arms then elongated and ripped apart two more, while his neck elongated like a rubber band as he bit of the head of a third. A second later, he was standing before the last remaining guard, the captain himself.

His heart hammering wildly in his chest, the captain took a step backward as Sasuke looked at him strangely. He knew that he would die within the next few heartbeats. His thoughts went back to his sick granddaughter, for whom he had taken up this job. The pay had been enough to pay for her treatment. But now, he would die here, at the hands of this … thing. He could only hope that the money he had sent so far was enough to treat her completely. His trembling hands automatically rose to fiddle with his white beard, a habit which he did whenever he was afraid.

"Sensei?"

The captain stood stock still. Sensei? What did he mean?

"Sarutobi … sensei?"

A small spark of hope started to rise in him. Maybe there was a chance that he could make it alive.

"Sarutobi sensei!"

The spark died as quickly as it had come, for Sasuke's voice had grown to a shriek of rage.

"Hokage … mine … mine mine mine …" Sasuke shrieked as he jumped up and down in rage.

The poor captain could only watch dumbly as Sasuke's hands shot forward. He gasped in agony as the razor sharp claws sank into his shoulders and pulled him towards Sasuke. He then started screaming as Sasuke's mouth lowered and he started feeding.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Akira sat beside Naruto's unmoving form. Despite his repeated warnings, Naruto had continued to indulge in the overuse of his shadow clones and had suddenly collapsed two days ago. The tiny rise and fall of his chest was the only indication that the he was still amongst the living. He sighed as he fed another piece of wood to the fire in front of him. He knew about the incredible healing abilities Naruto had got by virtue of being a junchuuriki, but this time, he was not sure what had happened. He silently prayed that Naruto was simply exhausted and his condition had nothing to do with the strange and frightening powers they had been using.

Akira dipped a finger into the pot hanging over the fire to test the temperature. Satisfied, he scooped a few spoons of the stew into his bowl. He ate slowly, his gaze flickering between the dancing flames and the prone form of Naruto. A wry smile crossed his face. Naruto was definitely a better cook than him.

A soft groan made him turn around. Naruto was awake. He was sitting up, with his fingers slowly pressing against his temple. Akira rose wordlessly and crossed over to the side of the room where he kept his small chest of herbs. He opened it and sorted through the contents till he found what he sought, the bundle of sh'chu herbs. It was a very effective painkiller if taken in the proper dosage. Too much would kill a grown man in seconds. He crushed the required amount and put in in a cup, poured hot water in it and then took it to Naruto.

"Drink!" he said as he passed the cup to the blonde.

Naruto took a sip and almost spat it out. It tasted absolutely foul. Akira couldn't help but grin at the expression of disgust that now featured on Naruto's face.

"Do your medicines always have to be vile tasting?" he asked with a growl as he forced himself to force the concoction down his throat.

Akira laughed as Naruto gulped down the last of the liquid in a single gulp, flung the cup away and clutched at his hair.

"Then maybe next time, you will heed my warnings and not push yourself too hard"

Naruto did not reply. He was too busy sitting with his head bowed low and tongue hanging out, willing the dreadful taste to disappear from his mouth entirely. Thankfully, the headache that was threatening to rip his head apart had now dwindled to a barely noticeable throb.

"How long was I out" he asked, trying to clear the cobwebs from his brain.

"Two days" Akira said as he poured some stew in a bowl and carried it over to Naruto.

Akira watched as Naruto ate slowly, grimacing at the taste.

"We have just about a year left, Naruto" he said as Naruto put his bowl away. "I've been thinking. Even if we did defeat whoever is being controlled by Him and prevent his seal from being broken, he will simply find someone else to do the job." He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"He is immortal and not hunted by time. I get the feeling that whatever we might do, we will simply be delaying the inevitable"

Naruto stared at the fire for a few minutes, saying nothing.

"The day of the alignment"

"What?" Akira asked, puzzled.

"What is so special about the day of the alignment that He is waiting for it?" Naruto posed the question.

"For the past two weeks, I've been creating armies of clones just to find out the answer to it."

Akira leaned forward, excitement evident in his eyes.

"And have you found the answer?"

Naruto nodded.

"The alignment will unleash a massive burst of energy that will be felt throughout all the worlds and planes. Now, the breaking of any seal also unleashes a burst of energy. Imagine the magnitude of the burst that would occur from breaking a seal made by the Gods themselves."

Akira's jaw dropped open as comprehension slowly began to dawn on his face.

"He seeks to mask that energy in the energy that would be released during the alignment."

Naruto stood up and dusted himself.

"Start packing. We leave in three days"

"Leave!" Akira frowned. "Where are we going?"

"To free a God" Naruto said softly.

Akira's eyebrows rose so much that they threatened to disappear entirely in his hair.

"Are you insane?"

Naruto shook his head. "Like you said, mortals like us have no chance in hell of stopping a being like Him. The only option we have is to attract the attention of those who put Him away in the first place."

"By breaking the seal well before the alignment?" Akira asked skeptically.

Naruto nodded

"But what if it does not work? What if you are wrong?"

Naruto shrugged. "Then we just die a few months early, that's all"

_But I don't want to die a virgin_ Akira thought morosely as Naruto walked out the room.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 33 – The return …

_Four years later …_

Kakuzu lay on the bed, his mind trying to find comfort in the state of unconsciousness even as his body tried desperately to fight the deadly toxins that continued to wreak havoc on his body. Every now and then, his body would go into spasms and his face would twist into an expression of unspeakable agony. His face was very pale, almost white and his hands were clenched in fists.

Outside the room, looking through a two way mirror stood the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade. Along with her stood Sarutobi Hiruzen, the erstwhile Sandaime Hokage and the two advisors Koharu and Homura. Flanking them on either side were Morino Ibiki and Hatake Kakashi. A couple of months ago, they had received reports of a 'demon' that was running around close to Tea country and tearing apart anyone that came close to it. The hunter team that had been sent there had followed the trail to somewhere close to Suna, where they had stumbled upon a small village where everyone had been torn to shreds. The battle hardened veterans had been shaken to the core at that sight.

It was two days later that they had felt chakra spikes and had followed them. They had finally arrived to the scene of devastation, with four dead bodies, with one of them ripped apart with unimaginable fury. What had shocked them more was the fact that three of the bodies were identified as Akatsuki, which led to the assumption that the fourth pile of shreds had also been an Akatsuki member. It as only because one of them had received intensive training in medical techniques that they realized one was still alive, if barely. There were tracks leading away from the place, but they were in no mood to follow them. Whatever of whoever it was, four Akatsuki members working in tandem had been taken out. There was no way a group of five hunters would be able to do anything other than get killed. Plus, it was imperative that the lone surviving Akatsuki member reached Konoha alive so that he could be questioned.

Now, Kakuzu lay inside a cell in Konoha. The poison in his system was a mixture of viper venom and poison due to rotten meat on claws and teeth. It had been neutralized to some degree by Tsunade, but not fully. Ibiki had felt that breaking into his mind would be easier if he was busy battling the poison in his body.

Tsunade cast a glance at the girl waiting a few feet away from her, Yamanaka Ino. She had been brought here because of her unique ability to project into images what she gleaned from a person's mind. Right now, she would concentrate her efforts in finding out who or what wiped out four Akatsuki members, for the pattern of wounds were too similar to the ones found on the bodies of the destroyed villages.

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Jiraya sat silently, staring at the dancing flames in front of him. For some reason, he was feeling pensive. His mind kept wandering to the only two students he ever had; Minato and Naruto, father and son. Both had died under violent circumstances while he was still alive. He wondered if he was being punished for some heinous crime he had committed in his previous life. Losing Minato had almost been like losing a son. It had taken him more than a year to get over it. Then he had taken Naruto under his wing, only to have him perish. He had watched Minato die, for he had arrived a few moments after he had begun the sealing technique, then he had watched Naruto die moments after Sasuke had punched through him.

He sighed as he threw a twig into the fire. Not for the first time in his life, he wished things had been different. Once the Akatsuki threat was neutralized, he would resign his status as an active shinobi and live out the rest of his life in a place where people did not know of him. Maybe he could utilize his savings to open up a hot spring resort. He grinned lecherously at that thought.

"I think you would be more comfortable in this chilly weather if you and your friend were to share my fire, young Itachi" He said as he threw a few more twigs onto the fire.

There was a soft chuckle as twin figures stepped out of the shadows. The eyes of Uchiha Itachi shone blood red in the firelight. The hulking figure beside him smiled to show off his teeth, all of which had been filed to points to give him an even more menacing look.

"Even at this age, you continue to surprise me, Jiraya sama" Itachi said tonelessly as he gazed upon the white haired toad master.

"So what brings two distinguished members of the infamous Akatsuki at my humble fire? I'd like to think that you want a personalized copy of my latest book, but your demeanor suggests otherwise." Jiraya said as he stood up.

The hulking figure laughed, a booming sound. "Sorry to disappoint you old-timer. We have come for your head, not your autograph."

Jiraya turned to him and smiled. "And you must be Hoshikage Kisame, the famed swordsman of Mist." He spread his hands. "I should feel honoured then. Two of the world's most powerful ninjas taking on a lonely old man, now this is the stuff that will make people buy my books even more"

Itachi merely glared at him coldly. "You are too skilled for your own good. You must be eliminated so that you do not interfere with our plans."

The very next moment, Jiraya found himself bound hand and foot to a tree stump, with Itachi standing before him.

"Ah! The famed Tsukiyomi, I presume?" Jiraya asked nonchalantly while staring at Itachi, who stood before him. "It also seems that you have found out a way to cast this technique without having your opponent to look into your eyes."

A sword appeared in Itachi's hand as he walked towards Jiraya.

"Your assumptions are correct. Complete mastery over the sharingan allows its wielder to cast the Tsukiyomi just by looking at the intended person. It matters not whether you look at me or not."

Jiraya smiled grimly as Itachi came within a foot of where he was bound.

_Time to see if it works__ …_

Various seals that Jiraya had painted on his body came alive, sending a massive surge of chakra pulsing though his body. Itachi's mouth opened wide in alarm as the world of Tsukiyomi began to disintegrate. He discarded the sword and performed a few hand seals as his evolved sharingan began to spin faster and faster. Slowly, the world began to piece itself back.

Jiraya's head dropped as the seals deactivated, his body no longer having the chakra necessary to keep them alive. A moment later, Itachi dropped on one knee, panting in exhaustion.

"Very impressive genjutsu, Itachi chan" Jiraya gasped between breaths. He was sweating profusely and was panting as if he had run all the way from Suna to Konoha.

Itachi had dropped to one knee, his face paler than usual and looking exhausted. When he raised his head to look at Jiraya, there was something akin to wonder in his eyes.

"No one has ever even made a scratch in this genjutsu and you nearly manage to dispel it. You are truly gifted."

"I am truly sorry you have to die" With that, the world shimmered and Jiraya found himself on his hands and knees back in the forest, his chest constricting in pain and struggling to breath properly.

"Time to die, toad man"

Jiraya wearily lifted his head to see Kisame swinging that massive sword of his towards his head.

_This is truly the end for me_

Then, the world exploded around him …

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inoichi watched as she threw up again. After she had finished retching, he offered her a glass of water which she gratefully accepted. She woefully realized why her dad always kept an empty stomach before delving into the mind of a criminal. Some of the things she had seen … well, she would rather she forget all about them.

"Are you okay, dear?" Inoichi asked after a few minutes.

Ino mutely nodded, concentrating on taking deep breaths to calm her system. Right now, all she wanted was to take a long bath and scrub herself till she felt clean. Is this why her father had taken to drinking heavily after interrogation sessions?

"Lets go pumpkin" he aid after giving his daughter a few more minutes to get her breath back. "The sooner you get his over with, the faster you can get into a bath."

Ino smiled gratefully as she held her hand out to indicate to her father to pull her up. Yes, she wanted to get this over with as fast as possible.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting inside the Hokage's room, along with the Sandaime Hokage, heads of the ninja clans and heads of the security forces, all sitting serenely.

_Lets see how serene they remain after they see this_, Ino smirked inwardly as she started the jutsu to show them the events that had led to the death of three Akatsuki members ….

………

The remains of the village stood like the skeleton of an old beast, with strips of flesh and lots of blood everywhere. The magnitude of the carnage had been absolute. The villagers and the life stock hadn't simply been killed. They had been torn apart, as if some maddened beast had come across them. The air was thick with flies who were buzzing merrily on the bounty that had been set before them.

Diedara held a handkerchief to his nose to dampen the smell. No human could have done this.

"It may be the five tailed demon" Sasori spoke up in his toneless voice.

Hidan spat to his right. "I certainly hope so. We have been tracking in this stupid Tea country for days and I haven't sacrificed anyone to Jashin sama"

"Diedara" Sasori looked at his blonde partner. Diedata had managed to recover from Shukaku's onslaught and was now hungry for revenge. If he couldn't have the Ichibi, then the Gobi would do pretty well.

Diedara nodded as he formed a dozen of his clay birds and then sent them winging away in all directions hoping to catch their prey's trail. Within a few heartbeats, one of his birds had spotted a figure surrounded by shrunken corpses. A lone figure thrashing in his arms showed that the figure was feeding on him.

"Got that bastard!" Diedara yelled triumphantly as he rushed towards the spot. With Red cloaks billowing, the four converged towards their prey like angles of death. A few minutes later, al four had converged on the still feeding figure. As the figure slowly raised its head, all four stilled.

"Uchiha Sasuke" Sasori said tonelessly.

"You sure? He looks more like Orochimaru to me" Kakuzu said softly, his eyes never leaving his target.

All the while, Sasuke just continued to look at these two with a puzzled expression.

"Damn this. Let's kill him, yeah!" Diedara exclaimed loudly.

Sasuke's gaze shot to him and the puzzled expression gave way to an expression of maniacal glee.

"Naruto"

The four Akatsuki members immediately stiffened. Uzumaki Naruto? Then they realized that Sasuke was staring at Diedara.

"Naruto!" he screamed as he launched himself at Diedara with incredible speed.

Sasori swung into action, releasing his puppets to block Sasuke's path. But Sasuke simply went through them like they were made of paper and lashed out. Diedara jumped back, but speed was never his forte and he received a deep gash in his chest that sent waves of agony through his body.

Hidan swung his massive scythe at him and was rewarded with the sound of steel striking flesh as Sasuke was too engrossed with Diedara to have noticed him. Sasuke shrieked an animal like scream, the pain forcing his focus towards this new enemy. Unfortunately for Hidan, though he was immortal, he was not very fast or strong. So before he could start his dark ritual, he found his arm gone from his body and the snarling face of Uchiha Sasuke staring at him with baleful eyes. He was immune to pain, but that didn't stop him from gasping in shock as Sasuke plunged both his hands into his chest and pulled, tearing him completely apart.

Sasuke screamed again as two of Sasori's puppets managed to guide their blades into him. He pulled himself free and jumped clear, landing a few meters away. His sharingan morphed into the deadly lightning formation as black tendrils of lightning flew towards Sasori. Sasori had already released his army of puppets, so he only had an extra second to move as the lightning turned his puppets to ash and grazed his left side, completely destroying it.

A few feet away, Diedaa was desperately trying to stem the flow of blood from the gash in his chest. With that freak fighting in close quarters with the rest, he could not use his big guns. He would only succeed in taking out his comrades as well which would make Madara very, very unhappy. He cursed as he saw Sasuke rip apart Hidan into two and then blow up Sasori's puppet army.

Kakuzu blinked in disbelief as Sasuke tore into his team. They were elites and this kid was treating them like practice dummies. He snarled with rage as he called forth his four elemental hearts. He almost never had had to use all four together, but now he sensed he had to, if he wanted to leave alive.

Sasuke reeled back in pain as agony flared up in his eye, then went right up to his skull. That one moment of distraction was all that Kakuzu needed as he combined fire and wind into a deadly maelstrom and flung it towards the crazed Uchiha. Time seemed to slow down as he watched death approach the Uchiha, closer and closer. When it was mere inches away from his face, Sasuke reared up with a howl, black lightning once again crackling from his eye. Kakuzu watched in numb disbelief as the lightning neutralized his attack and then went on to obliterate his hearts. The last thing he would ever see would be the twisted face of Uchiha Sasuke rushing in, claws outstretched.

…..

There was deathly silence in the council room as the images stopped. That the creature had once been the proud Uchiha Sasuke was crystal clear in everyone's minds. What was disturbing was the fact that he had been able to take out four elite ninjas with such savagery. The pattern of attacks clearly showed that he also was the one responsible for the random killings that had been happening for the past few months. Whatever little hope people had harboured in their hearts of bringing back the Uchiha in one piece and restarting the clan were now squashed firmly. There would be no redemption for the Uchihas now, only annihilation.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You used too much, idiot!"

"He's still alive, isn't he?"

Jiraya groaned as he opened his eyes, his ears still ringing from the explosion that had thrown him back against the tree.

"Look, he's already opening his eyes"

"But he looks fuddled!"

"That's his normal expression"

Jiraya shook his head to clear it. He could hear two voices and one of them sounded very familiar.

He looked up to see two figures standing to his right and one of them was …

"It can't be …" Jiraya gasped on shock.

Kisame snarled as he picked himself up, his chest covered with burns because of the weird attack those brats had used.

"You're both supposed to be dead." Itachi said guardedly.

Jiraya got another shock when he saw the eyes of the person near Naruto. He had the sharingan.

_Another Uchiha? What the hell if going on? And isn't Nar__uto supposed to dead? Am I dead? Am I in another genjutsu? Or am I simply going cuckoo?_

"And I thought I was your favourite cousin!" he said with a dramatic sigh, making exaggerating motions of heartbreaks.

Jiraya stood up shakily. His head still hurt from where it had struck the rocks. Plus, he was also low on chakra having used up a lot of his reserves is countering Itachi's Tsukiyomi.

"You know them? Kisame asked irritably as he gripped his massive sword once more, seeking to inflict massive amounts of pain on those two.

Itachi nodded. "The one of the right is my cousin, Akira. The other one is Uzumaki Naruto, the jinchuuriki of the nine tailed beast."

Kisame laughed a deep booming sound. "Well well! That was some trick you pulled back there, jinchuuriki kun. This time, I am going to make sure you stay dead."

"Jiraya sensei, can you fight?" Naruto asked, his eyes never leaving the two Akatsuki members in front of him.

Jiraya nodded carefully. "I need a minute to recover"

"Naruto!" Akira called out as he took a step forward. "Leave Itachi to me. You take care of the talking fish."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Don't be stupid. This is neither the time nor the place for your revenge. We have more important things to do."

Akira just smiled. "Don't worry. I am not that stupid. All I am looking for is a few answers. I'll try not to die till then."

Naruto shook his head in exasperation at his partner's insubordination. Kisame simply laughed.

"Looks like you get to clean up the mess you missed for good this time." He snickered. "I'll take care of toad man and his brat."

Jiraya simply swallowed a chakra pill and waited for his chakra reserves to get fully replenished as two people long thought dead walked up to confront the two ninjas from Akatsuki ….


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 34 – Uchiha VS Uchiha

Author's Note – First of all, let me say that I was quite pleasantly surprised at the number of reviews my last chapter got. It was way above the average. Also, thanks to all those who reviewed it, especially the detailed reviews which help me see where I am falling short.

Cheers

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Uzumaki Naruto and Hoshikage Kisame stared at each other for a few seconds, each trying to get the measure of the other. Naruto knew virtually nothing of Kisame, but the same was also true for his opponent. Mentally, he bit of a curse as Akira faced of against Itachi, but he also knew how important it was for him.

"Hey squirt!" Kisame barked. "How 'bout we take our fight a little further away? I for one don't want to spoil Itachi's family reunion"

Naruto smiled. Perfect! By isolating Kisame from his partner, he would have a better chance of neutralizing him without the fear of Itachi coming to his aid. By this time, Jiraya had recovered his chakra and was standing next to him.

"Fine by me!"

With that, the three vanished in a swirl of leaves.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I am surprised that you are alive" Itachi said. His face was expressionless but his eyes seemed to bore holes into Akira.

"Crazy coots make mistakes" Akira replied with a shrug.

Itachi simply stared at him for a few seconds.

"So, you intend to kill me for vengeance. Do you truly believe that you can even touch me?"

Akira laughed. "No vengeance business, old chap. I came back for something far more important. It was pure luck that we stumbled on to you."

He shook his head. "No, I simply want some answers"

Itachi's lips curved into a sneer. "I don't owe you any explanation"

A hail of shuriken flew towards Akira and simply passed though him. The image wavered like the reflection on a disturbed water surface, then steadied again.

Itachi stood stock still. A genjutsu! But this was impossible! He whirled towards his left and let loose another volley. This time, a few were batted aside as Akira jumped out of the foliage, his sharingan spinning slowly.

Itachi lunged forward, whipping out his sword with incredible speed. Akira stepped back to avoid it but …

Itachi felt the sword pass through Akira without any resistance. Just then, his sixth sense honed by years of training and combat kicked in and he jumped to his right as a crackling bolt of power slammed into the spot where he had been a second ago. But even as he landed, Itachi flew into a series of hand seals and let loose a barrage of fireballs at the direction of the attack.

Itachi stood up and looked around. The place was now silent. He could not detect any movement or any chakra signs around him. Twice he had been tricked into attacking a clone. This was puzzling and also a little worrying for him. One of the key strengths of the sharingan lay in detecting genjutsu. With his Mangekyo form, no genjutsu in the world would work against him.

A fresh wave of power coming at him snapped him out of his thoughts as he lunged to his right and simultaneously lunched a volley of shuriken. That proved to be a mistake as the shuriken stopped a few feet away from Itachi in mid air, then flew back towards him at even greater speed. Itachi twisted in mid air to avoid a few and batted the rest away with his sword.

But his mid-air twist cost him as bolts of raw power hammered into him. Itachi opened his mouth in surprise before exploding, flattening the area in a ten feet radius around him.

_What the hell? _That was Akira's thought as he watched Itachi explode. _Did I just get him?_ He stepped out of the bushes cautiously. The damage in that area was real. Plus, it could not have been a genjutsu.

Akira whistled. "Guess I don't know my own strength".

"Sadly, you don't" a voice behind him whispered with the promise of death.

Akira twisted desperately, bringing his power to his defense. Even so, Itachi's sword punched through him, introducing him to a whole new world of excruciating pain. He screamed and lashed out blindly, sending his power winging in all directions. He felt, rather than saw his power hitting someone.

_Son of a bitch …_ He cursed as he forced himself to focus through the pain. His defenses had prevented Itachi from cutting into any vital organs. Even so, his wounds were deep.

"Your skills are impressive, cousin"

Akira frantically tried to pinpoint the source of the voice, but it seemed to come from all directions. Suddenly, playing twenty questions with Itachi did not seem such a good idea any more. He yanked out the sword and brought a glowing hand near the wound, cauterizing it. The resulting pain sent a wave of dizziness through him that threatened to knock him of his feet.

"Why don't you come out and face me like a man, coward!" Akira screamed through his pain.

Itachi fought the urge to roll his eyes from where he sat concealed. Did he really think that such tactics would work on him? Plus, he had seen enough to realize that whatever Akira was wielding was not ninjutsu in any sense. Whatever it was, it could cast illusions his sharingan could not detect. The bolts he had sent could not be classified under any known chakra type. In short, he was dangerous. Itachi had no doubt that Akira would fall, but he preferred to do it before he was seriously injured. That last blow had felt like a hammer to his chest.

Akira was growing uneasy. In terms of combat skills, he was years behind Itachi. He had lost his element of surprise when he had stepped out of hiding and was now wounded.

_Hurry up Naruto_ he prayed silently.

Thousands of shuriken filled the air with a keening sound as they sped towards Akira. Akira brought his arms forward and summoned his power. A blinding flash filled the area for a few seconds. When the light cleared, Akira was on his knees, panting with exhaustion, surrounded by heaps of twisted metal lumps.

"So long, cousin" These were the last words he heard as a kunai plunged into his neck.

Itachi bit of an oath as the kunai passed effortlessly through Akira, causing the image to waver and vanish. That sneaky bastard had run off again. He spread his senses to try and catch him, but he found nothing. As he quested further, he felt Kisame's chakra. To his amazement, Kisame was running on only half of his chakra.

_Of course, Jiraya is fighting him_.

Itachi was a patient man, but he needed to end this quickly. Already four members had gone missing. Madara would be very displeased if he managed to lose Kisame as well. Within those few seconds, Kisame's chakra dipped even further.

_I have no choice then_

Itachi's Mangekyo sharingan flared to life spinning wildly as the air in front of him began to darken.

_Amaterasu_

Flames the color of the night burst from his eyes and sped away, intent on devouring everything in its path. The pain drove Itachi to his knees as a small trickle of blood escaped his eye.

_Perfect!_

Akira materialized behind Itachi, arms outstretched. His feeling of elation quickly vanished as the flames simply reversed their direction and rushed towards him with a speed born with the quickness of thought.

"Shit!" Akira screamed as power burst out of his hands to ward off the attack. But the Amaterasu simply slowed down a little, but still bored inexorably towards him. Step by step, Akira was forced backwards till he found himself with his back against a tree. With a scream of despair, he summoned more power. This time, the Amaterasu wavered and stood still. Beads of perspiration stood out against his skin as Amaterasu and mystic power struggled for dominance. A few feet away, Itachi watched in mute shock as his most powerful attack was halted by his wimp of a cousin.

Akira screamed as he forced more power through, this time dispelling the Amaterasu. The sudden rush of power rocked him back. Itachi was suddenly wracked by immense pain as his technique was dispelled.

_If you ever find yourself in a situation where the __Mangekyo is being overwhelmed, dispel your technique immediately. For if your opponent manages to do it, the backlash will temporarily cripple you, leaving you wide open for an attack._

With a rush, those words came flooding back to him. So sure he had been in his power that he had forgotten that warning. And now, he was kneeling on the ground, unable to move a muscle. He lifted his eyes to see Akira struggling to stand up.

_Move it! _He screamed silently, but his body refused to obey. Akira managed to stand up weakly and started to walk towards him slowly.

After a long time, Itachi felt the stirrings of fear. He had horribly underestimated his opponent. He had only used a fourth of his strength in the Amaterasu, wanting to preserve his energy to help his partner. After all, Amaterasu could not be cancelled by any technique other than another Amaterasu. Even then, you had had to have a level of control far superior to his and only Uchiha Madara had that kind of control.

Akira forced his trembling hands to grip the kunai properly. His entire body felt like it was on fire. He had used too much power in too short a time.

_This power is not meant to be used lightly by mortals_

Knowing it and experiencing it were two entirely different things. He was out of energy, only the sheer force of will keeping him standing. Step by step, he inched closer towards Itachi, the man who had killed his entire family.

He raised his trembling hands to deliver the blow and then the world disappeared in a swirl of black. Akira found himself hanging between two trees, his arms and feet firmly chained. In front of him stood Uchiha Itachi, radiating power.

"You certainly look pretty well for a man just about to die".

Itachi simply looked at him emotionlessly.

"This is the world of Tsukiyomi, my world. My physical condition means nothing here."

Akira started laughing. "I beat your technique a few seconds ago. What makes you think I won't do it again?"

"Because I used only a fraction of my power"

Akira's laughter died away.

Itachi sighed as a blade materialized in his hands. He walked towards Akira till he was a foot away from him.

"I must say that I am intrigued. You are the first person to have neutralized the Mangekyo sharingan." He said as he raised the blade high. "Any last words?"

Akira looked at him and just uttered one word. "Why?"

Itachi's hand stopped, then lowered.

"Why? WHY?" The normally calm Itachi's voice grew louder and louder as his face twisted into a mask of pain and loathing. His hand flashed down and stopped a millimeter away from Akira's neck.

"If you really want to know why, then listen and listen well, about the clan you idolize so much"

"About a hundred years ago, the Uchiha and the Senju met in a battle that was meant to be titanic, but ended in a whimper because of one man, Hashirama Senju. He was skilled beyond belief. After he had single handedly defeated our two commanders, the Uchiha clan sued for peace, not because they were tired of fighting but because they knew they could not win. Together, they laid down the foundation for the 'Hidden Village in the Leaves', Konoha."

"Only Uchiha Madara refused to take this defeat lying down. He was obsessed with the idea of the Uchiha supremacy and tried to stir up the clan, but to no avail. The elders had seen the strength of Hashirama and knew they would be annihilated in the face of it. Feeling betrayed, he left the village vowing revenge. Five years later, he arrived again, but this time with a monstrosity in tow."

"The Kyuubi" Akira whispered.

"Yes, the Kyuubi" Itachi said. "But even with such a power at his disposal, Uchiha Madara was forced to flee for his life; such was the strength of Hashirama Senju."

"But this event gave the elders a new line of thought. Uchiha Madara had nearly overcome Hashirama with the aid of a demon. Could they not do the same? So began the research for creating the 'ultimate Uchiha', the one who would eradicate the Senju and place the Uchiha once again as the most powerful clan in the entire world. They did this slowly and in great secret, for they were under watch for a long time after the battle between Madara and Hashirama."

"Twenty years ago, they finally discovered an ancient text describing a ritual for demonic binding. For the vessel, they chose the most talented Uchiha at that time"

"You" Akira said, his heart sinking at the look of rage in Itachi's eyes.

"Yes, lucky me!" Itachi spat in rage. "Twelve Uchiha newborns were selected for the sacrifice, newborns who were given away willingly by their mothers, all for the glory of the clan. I was made to lie naked in the middle of a stone altar, scared and confused, my body covered in various seals, surrounded by twelve elders and twelve wailing infants."

Itachi's whole body was now trembling as he recalled the night of horrors he had been forced to experience.

"At midnight, the elders plunged their knives into the chests of the babes and tore out their still beating hearts as an offering. The demon answered and the power flowed into me through the seals painted on me."

"Pain greater than anyone in this world can imagine ripped through me. I screamed and screamed till my throat was raw. At one point, I saw my father standing to one side, a proud smile adorning his face. I wanted to escape the pain, I longed for the bliss of unconsciousness or even death, but the ritual denied that to me. I had to endure it for over an hour"

The calm and cold Uchiha was gone, in its place stood a man driven by hatred for what had been done to him. Akira wished he could block out his words, but he could not. Tears ran down his eyes as Itachi continued his grisly tale.

"Years passed, but I did not exhibit any superhuman traits. No matter how hard I tried, I was never good enough. I was young and confused. I was jounin by the age of ten, ANBU captain by the age of fourteen, something no one in the history of Konoha had done. I was sure my family would be proud, but my achievements were met with indifference. The only people who admired me were the kids"

"It was only one day that I found a hidden entrance in the shrine by pure accident. Intrigued, I went down a long and flight of stone steps. At the end of the stone steps was the altar where the sacrifice had taken place all those years ago, an event I had blocked from my mind. But looking at the place brought all those memories forth in a torrent. Lying on a table nearby were some scrolls and their translations. As I read it, I realized the cold treatment I was receiving."

"The elders had translated the scroll incorrectly the first time. There were two marts to the ritual. What I had gone through was only the first. I was simply a 'vessel'. My rage knew no bounds as I kept reading. '_And on his fifteenth birthday shall the vessel be ripe with power. On that day, exactly at the stroke of midnight, his throat shall be cut and the chosen one shall drink that sweet blood bursting with power'_"

"And guess who the 'chosen one was'" Itachi leered. "It was Sasuke, my own brother. He would drink my blood and become the Uchiha everyone was praying for. My own parents had set me up for a barbaric ritual and all for what" He screamed. "Power?"

Akira watched in horror as Itachi's face twisted into a mask of insanity. His eyes shone with barely controlled madness, a madness born from the twisted desires of his own clan.

"I killed them all that night" Itachi laughed. "I showed them what my power was, power without the aid of mystical mumbo jumbo"

"But why leave Sasuke alive?" Akira asked in puzzlement.

Itachi rubbed hi hands in glee. "He was destined to be the super Uchiha. I wanted to turn him into the most pathetic Uchiha ever to walk the face of the earth. I wanted him to live, forever lonely, his heart consumed by hatred, never knowing a single day's peace. That is my revenge against the 'chosen one'.

Akira closed his eyes as Itachi continued to laugh like a madman. Of all the reasons he had imagined, none had even come close to the truth, if indeed Itachi was telling the truth. But then again, Itachi had no reason to lie to him and the pain and anger and hatred was all too real.

"So cousin, did that answer all your questions?" Akira opened his eyes to see Itachi looking at him calmly.

Akira looked at him sadly. "Yes, it does"

"You will now die over and over again for the next seventy two hours." Itachi intoned as he swung his blade down, only to have Akira disappear in a swirl of Sakura petals.

The landscape changed into a beautiful field, filled with flowers and grass, with butterflies the hue of rainbows fluttering around.

"Much better, don't you think?"

Itachi turned around to see Akira calmly standing some distance away, clothed in a robe of pristine white.

"Impossible!"

"Not really" Akira shrugged. "Your Tsukiyomi technique simply pulls you and your victim into Shul'Monagh, or the 'World of Dreams'. Your sharingan gives you some level of mastery over it, but it is still very low."

Itachi's sharingan spun faster and faster as he tried to bring back the world to his control, but to his horror, nothing happened, not even a ripple.

Akira shook his head. "If I were to compare your mastery level to the shuriken throwing skills of an average first year academy student, then my mastery could be compared to the shuriken skills of an average chuunin."

Itachi tried to teleport in front of him and hack him to pieces, but his body would not move. Slowly, the reality began to seep in. Uchiha Itachi had been bested.

"So will you now kill me to avenge the clan? Will you resurrect the Uchiha and their power hungry ways?"

Akira stood silently for a few moments, his hand tugging at a lock of hair.

"I don't want to avenge the clan, cousin" He finally said. "But I cannot let the death of Shiro go unpunished"

Itachi closed his eyes at that name. Shiro. The only non-Uchiha to live inside the clan compounds. That kid had hero worshipped him, going as far as to call his father, the clan head, a 'cross-eyed-baboon' for 'not knowing how awesome Itachi ni-san is'. That night, he had attacked his 'Itachi ni-san', to protect the family that had cared for him through all those years. That memory had been so painful that he had locked it away.

"So be it" he whispered softly. He looked at Akira and smiled for the first time in years. "You have grown powerful, Akira. Use it wisely"

"I am sorry, Itachi ni-san" With that, Akira stepped out of Shul'Monagh and into the real world, while leaving Itachi trapped in there.

He opened his eyes and found himself back in his battered body. He gripped his kunai and placed it against Itachi's throat.

"Rest in peace, cousin" With that, he slashed open his jugular and watched as the life blood seeped out of Itachi's body.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 35 – The power of the ancients

Hoshigaki Kisame, former swordsman of the Mist, stared at the blonde jinchuuriki in front of him with mild interest.

"Hey brat! Before I send you to hell, how 'bout you tell me how you came back from the dead" He grinned, revealing his teeth, which were filed and sharpened to points.

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow. "A good magician never reveals his secrets"

Kisame barely dodged the attack that came from behind him. Even as he twisted and swung his sword, the Naruto he had been talking to let loose a barrage of shuriken. But Hoshigaki Kisame, for all his bulk, was almost as fast as Uchiha Itachi. He spun in mid air, wielding his giant sword to bat them away.

Even as he landed, Jiraya rushed in, hand flowing through seals. He slammed his palms into the ground and multiple dragons made of earth charged towards Kisame. Kisame laughed and flew into a few seals of his own. Seconds before the earth dragons reached him; water dragons burst out of the ground and struck them.

Jiraya moved in again, this time closing in on Kisame as he unleashed the devastating hermit style taijutsu. He flowed through Kisame's defenses and landed blow after blow, forcing him back. The hermit style was a rare style that was taught to only a select few and was made to counter most of the styles in the world. The blows were designed to deliver maximum damage without putting in too much effort.

So it was quite a shock to Jiraya when Kisame snarled and counterattacked, delivering a kick to his ribs that sent him flying away. He realized then that there were two problems with the attack. First one was that Kisame seemed to shrug off blows that would have dropped even a ninja like Hatake Kakashi to his knees, indicating that he was built for taking punishment. Two, though his mastery over seals and ninjutsu had grown over the years and had reached a level where everyone feared him, his taijutsu had declined. No matter how hard one trains, old age is an enemy that can not be defeated. His movements were a fraction slower, his energy a fraction lesser. For a ninja of Kisame's caliber, that was all he needed.

Seeing his teacher getting kicked away, Naruto summoned twenty clones who attacked Kisame with various low powered elemental ninjutsu. Kisame leapt high in the air, causing the clone army to be wiped out by each others attack. But by that time, Naruto had already opened four of the Celestial Gates.

"Naruto! Don't!" Jiraya screamed frantically, but it was too late.

A massive blast of chakra raced towards Kisame. Jiraya's hair stood on its end as he felt the sheer power behind that blast. It had enough energy to wipe out a small settlement. Kisame laughed in pure pleasure as he sung his sword to meet the attack. As sword met chakra, there was a blinding flash, causing Jiraya and Naruto to cover their eyes. When the glare subsided, they saw Kisame standing there unharmed, with a big grin on his face. Naruto's jaw dropped open and Jiraya groaned in frustration.

"What the hell?" Naruto could not believe it. That attack should have wiped him of the face of the planet, leaving nothing but ashes behind.

"His sword absorbs chakra, you dumb blonde!" Jiraya yelled angrily.

Kisame laughed. "Samaheda says thanks for the lovely lunch" he said as he patted his sword lovingly.

_Give me a break. A chakra absorbing sword?_ Naruto groaned

Kisame was surrounded by a blue aura as he drew on the chakra in his sword. He flew through hand seals, taking advantage of the momentary lapse in his enemy's concentration. As he finished, the ground began to rumble. A second later, very high pressure water jets began to shoot out of the ground. Jiraya quickly teleported away. Naruto, on the other hand, could not move quickly enough. He screamed in pain as some of the jets found their mark and punched through him like a drill through paper. He fell to the ground, bleeding like a stuck pig and in terrible agony.

Kisame roared with laughter at the sight of Naruto lying helpless on the ground, slowly bleeding to death. He sauntered over to his prone form and hefted his sword on his shoulder, eyeing him with glee.

"You should have stayed dead boy" He smirked. "Now I am going to cut you off into tiny pieces while you scream"

As he lifted his sword to start his grisly work, there was an explosion of movement behind him. He whirled back to see Jiraya coming towards him with incredible speed. He could not react in time and was sent flying back by a blow to his chest.

_Were those … frogs on his shoulders?_ Kisame shook his head as he stood up. Jiraya was glaring at him, so were the two frogs.

"Hey!" He exclaimed angrily. "What's with those frogs?"

"Frogs!" the one on the right croaked angrily.

"We've just been insulted!" the other one huffed.

Kisame was frowning now. Talking frogs! What next, singing frogs?

"This guy is built like a steel wall. I'll close in on him while you use your toad illusion technique on him" Jiraya muttered softly.

As they nodded, Jiraya literally flew towards Kisame, fists drawn back. A quick glance at Naruto had told him that he would be all right. The kyuubi had already started healing his wounds.

Kisame found himself guarding against a flurry of kicks and punches, more powerful and faster than the first time. He snarled in frustration as Jiraya kept up the offensive, not allowing him room to swing that sword of his. So, he allowed one of Jiraya's kicks to slip in. The impact sent him flying away, but also gave him the opportunity to get his sword into position.

"Now!" Jiraya yelled.

Kisame found himself struggling to breathe as a gigantic hand closed round his throat and started squeezing it.

_Aw crap! It's a genjutsu! _

Kisame had sparred with Itachi enough times to recognize a genjutsu if he was caught in one. He drew on all the chakra that had been stored in Samaheda, along with his own chakra and released it in a burst. The gigantic hand vanished and Jiraya was sent flying away.

"What the … is he really human?"

Jiraya was wondering the same thing. That chakra amount had been incredibly large, too large for anyone other than a jinshuuriki. But Kisame could not be a jinchuuriki. No, he had drawn on the massive chakra stored in his sword.

Kisame burst out of the foliage, roaring with rage. This time, it was Jiraya who was forced to go on the defensive. Before his defection, Kisame had been regarded as the strongest Swordsman ever in Mist. Years of travelling with elite rogues had only improved his skills. Slowly and steadily, Jiraya found himself giving ground.

A burst of power hammered into the shark faced ninja, sending him tumbling away. Jiraya looked back to see Naruto standing with his arms outstretched, a look a fury on his face.

Kisame angrily picked himself up. "Why don't you stay down, you little runt?"

Naruto clenched his fists as the ground in a five meter radius began to tremble. Trees snapped and fell to the ground. Within a span of few seconds, all the trees around him were down.

Kisame tightened his grip on Samaheda as the trees began to float in the air. With a thunderous crack, the split into tiny slivers; each the width of a senbon needle and the length of a grown man's forearms.

With a gesture, Naruto sent the countless slivers flying towards his enemy. Kisame kept knocking them back, but to his horror, the barrage was unending. The slivers he knocked back simply reversed their trajectory in mid-air and flew back towards him. He quickly realized that he would soon be turned into a pin cushion this way. He teleported a few feet away and flew into a series of complex hand seals. Naruto sent the needles flying towards his new position with even greater speed. The first wave struck Kisame as he finished his seals.

With a roar, the ground before him split open as a massive wall of water rose to defend Kisame. Jets of water flew out from that wall, crushing all the needles that flew towards it.

The wall slowly died down, revealing a wet and bleeding Kisame. He had been struck by quite a few needles and was panting heavily due to using such high chakra based techniques one after the other. He eyed his opponents warily. Samaheda was out of chakra. He was down to a little less than half. While even half was more than Itachi's peak, he got the feeling that it wouldn't be nearly enough against these two.

Jiraya had returned to normal, panting in exhaustion and with a puzzled expression on his face. Something had felt … wrong when Naruto had used his power. His tenuous connection with the nature chakra had wavered and then vanished. The sudden loss of power made him feel weak and tired. He looked at Naruto, who stood calmly, watching Kisame like a hawk.

Cobalt fire blossomed from Naruto's fingers. Kisame quickly swung Samaheda to block the attack. Sword and sorcery collided with a thunderous clap.

_I can't move_ Kisame realized with horror. The muscles on his arms bulged out as he strained, but to no avail. He could not budge his sword even an inch and neither could he let go of it.

Unknown to him, Naruto was having a similar problem. The power within him felt alive as it flowed towards Kisame's sword. No matter how hard he tried, he could not shut it down.

_What is going on here?_ He thought frantically. He could feel his power draining away slowly. At this rate, he would die.

_There is something about his sword. I have to figure out and fast._

While Naruto could not shut down his power, he found out that he could, to a small degree, manipulate the nature of it. The searing attack became a probing attack, tendrils of power rushing through Samaheda.

_Tell me your secret__s_

Seconds ticked by as Naruto and Kisame stood still, locked in combat by their powers. Jiraya could only look on nervously at the battle in front of him. This was no longer a ninja battle. The powers that had been brought out were alien to him. He dare not intervene in case he did more harm than good.

Naruto drew a soft breath in awe of what he was seeing. Samaheda was an ancient weapon, a work of a master. The steel had been folded countless times in perfection, each fold inscribed with runes. It was these runes that were responsible for the strange situation they both were in. All those hours of studies with his shadow clone army had taught him a lot about runic sorcery. He carefully began to weave his power at certain runes. Once he had attached to every rune of that kind, he deactivated them.

Samaheda shattered with a terrific explosion, flinging Kisame away like a rag doll. Naruto staggered back as he the backlash sent daggers of pain into his head. Even as he staggered back, Jiraya swung into action. Kisame was lying a few feet away, his chest shredded by the shrapnel from Samaheda's explosion. He dimly made out Jiraya charging for him, but he could not move any part of his body. The last thing he felt was the prick of a needle before darkness swallowed him up.

Jiraya let out a sigh of relief. Kisame had been neutralized. He tied him up then summoned a toad so he could be brought to Tsunade. He looked back to see Naruto sitting on the ground, massaging his temple. There were so many questions he wanted to ask him, but he stilled himself. He would leave the explanations for later. Right now, they had to find a place to recuperate. He slowly made his way towards Naruto.

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked.

Naruto nodded wearily as he stood up.

"Good" Jiraya said. "We can now .. oh my God!" He exclaimed. "Your friend! He's fighting Itachi. He …"

"He's alive" Naruto cut him off.

Jiraya looked closely at Naruto. There was no expression of concern on his face. Either he really knew what had happened or he was simply too confident in his friend's abilities.

Naruto simply took off where they had left Akira. A few minutes later, they came across a patch of burnt forest, an extremely tired Akira and the Itachi lying in a pool of his own blood. To say that Jiraya was shocked would be an understatement.

"Sensei!" Naruto nudged him, breaking him out of his thoughts. "We need a place to rest, a secure place."

"Ah ..!" Jiraya stammered, his mind reeling with the events of the last few minutes.

"We will head to Suna. I have some special arrangements with the Kazekage there".

Naruto's eyebrow rose skeptically. Jiraya saw that and grinned.

"Gaara became the Kazekage three years ago" he said.

"Ah" Naruto said softly. That would explain the 'special arrangement'. Gaara was probably very grateful to him for fixing up his seal.

Jiraya summoned a large mountain toad as Naruto helped Akira to his feet. Soon, they were on top of the toad and speeding towards Suna.

_You__ look pretty banged up. Why didn't you go all out? _

_I want to keep the element of surprise all long as possible. Jiraya was there to help me. Plus, Kisame wasn't very good. _

The two had mastered the art of telepathic communication and so could converse without Jiraya eavesdropping on them.

_What about you? _

_Hah! Itachi simply used the wrong technique at the wrong time. Else I would have been lying on the ground, dead as a doornail. _

Naruto smiled. Had he felt Akira was in serious trouble at any time, he would have rushed in to help. As the only two practitioners of sorcery, it was imperative that they both remained alive till the threat had been dealt with.

They reached Suna after eight hours of hard riding. After a quick word with the guards, Jiraya led them to a fancy looking hotel. It turned out that the topmost suite was reserved for Jiraya for his lifetime.

Akira whistled appreciatively as he entered the suite. "Impressive!" He said as he looked around. As a member of one of the richer Uchiha families, he had had his share of luxury during his childhood. Naruto, on the other hand was indifferent to such things. For an orphan who was force to survive on his own, he actually found such opulence a little wasteful.

"You two rest here. I'll have to go and meet the Kazekage and give him my report." Jiraya told them as he left the room.

Akira immediately jumped on his bed. The feeling of the soft pillow and mattresses, along with the silk sheets felt amazing.

"Ah!" He said softly. "The pleasures of being rich! What say you Naruto? Naruto?" Getting no response, he looked over to where Naruto was sleeping soundly. He rolled his eyes in exasperation. The first sign of real luxury after so many years and that guy just falls asleep without taking time to appreciate it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In Konoha, Shizune looked on in horror as her mentor and the Godaime Hokage guzzled down three flasks of sake in less than two minutes.

"Tsunade sama!" she protested weakly. "You have a meeting in less than five minutes!"

Tsunade's only response was to grimace as she searched the desk for more sake. One dead Akatsuki, one incapacitated Akatsuki, both sent by Jiraya with a message saying that he would explain things later. What the hell was she supposed to tell the council about this?

Just then, Kakashi entered the room and nervously cleared his throat.

"What!" Tsunade snapped.

"Hoshigaki Kisame has been placed in the vaults. Also, the autopsy team has finished a preliminary examination of Uchiha Itachi".

"And?" Tsunade prompted, noticing the tone of Kakashi's voice.

Kakashi took a deep breath. "The burn marks on Itachi have been caused by a form of energy completely unknown to us."

There was pin-drop silence in the room for the next few seconds.

"Couldn't it have been a … some unknown justsu?" Shizune ventured hesitantly.

Kakashi shook his head. "Any jutsu invariably uses one of the five elemental chakra. Even the burn marks resulting from Itachis Amaterasu that we had come across a few years earlier showed traces of fire elemental chakra."

"So you're saying that .."

"The energy traces match nothing that we have come across so far" Kakashi finished for her.

"That's just wonderful!" Tsunade remarked dryly as she launched another search for her elusive cache of sake.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto jerked awake as he heard knocking on the door. Gathering his power, he walked up to the door.

"Who is it?" he asked cautiously.

"The Kazekage requests your presence" came the muffled reply.

Naruto looked over to where Akira was snoring blissfully.

"Give us a few minutes to get ready" he said as he turned to wake Akira up.

Ten minutes later, Naruto, Akira and Jiraya were sitting in front of the fifth Kazekage of Suna, Sabaku no Gaara. Gaara sat on his chair with an expressionless face, which was not unusual for he was not the kind of man to display emotions openly. But the man at his side, Kankuro, was openly glaring at them, or rather, glaring at Naruto.

"I would like to know how you came back from the death, if you are indeed Uzumaki Naruto" Gaara said, leaning back into his chair. Though his face and body language was calm, there was an aura around him that threatened a world of pain if he didn't like the answer he got.

Naruto shrugged. "I never died. That was a ruse."

With a snarl, Kankuro launched himself at Naruto, only to be stopped in his tracks by Gaara's sand.

"Behave yourself, Kankuro!" Gaara snapped.

But Kankuro was in no mood to listen.

"A ruse?" He spat, voice rising with anger. "Do you know that Temari was in a funk for more than a year because of your ruse? You heartless little …"

"Kankuro!" This time the sand tightened around his chest. Kankuro spat once more then stopped struggling against the sand.

Naruto sighed. "I needed to leave the village in such a way that no one would pursue me. Do you honestly believe that I could have told anyone of my plans?"

"But why did you want to leave?" Jiraya asked, a little perplexed. "I thought you were finally finding some happiness with Temari …"

"Do you honestly believe that I could have a normal life, let alone happy life as a demon host?" Naruto asked, a trace of bitterness in his voice. "I wanted to leave the village so I could find out a way to get rid of my tenant. You would never have let me leave the village, so I had to cook up that whole thing."

"But you could have .."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I could have what? Even if you did give me permission to leave the village, I would have been hunted down by bounty hunters who want the kyuubi. My condition is not exactly a well kept secret, you know?"

There was silence for some time. Then Gaara turned to Akira.

"And you would be …?"

"Akira" he answered with a grin. "Uchiha Akira" He was careful to put emphasis on the word 'Uchiha'.

This answer was met with incredulous looks from everyone, except Jiraya.

"Of course!" He said softly. "There was one body we never found and that was yours. There were pieces of flesh lying around in your house. We assumed that you had been blown up."

Akira shook his head. "That was … Shiro, my companion."

At that moment, two servants came in carrying refreshments. After they left, Gaara leaned back in his chair and looked at Naruto.

"I would like to know how you escaped and what you did all these years. After all, its not everyday that someone can boast of defeating a member of the Akatsuki with abilities unknown to even a person as knowledgeable as Jiraya here."

For the next two hours, Naruto and Akira took turns in telling their tales. So fantastic did it sound that during the narration, not once did anyone make any sound. After they had finished, everyone had a shaken look on their faces, except for Gaara.

"Come!" Gaara said as he stood up.

With puzzled looks on their faces, Kankuro, Naruto, Jiraya and Akira followed Gaara out of the room. It was night in Suna, so there were not many people out at this time. After fifteen minutes, the group found themselves at the Suna hospital.

_Why is he bringing us here? Did he also capture an Akatsuki member?_ Naruto thought as he entered the building.

They entered a heavily guarded room on the third floor, in which lay a woman attached heavily to life support systems. Something about her seemed familiar to Naruto …

"Temari!" he gasped.

"Can you heal her?" Gaara asked.

Naruto was too shaken up to answer.

"We never did learn healing techniques, unfortunately." Akira spoke up for him.

Kankuro bit his lips in disappointment as a tear escaped his eye. Sakura had given Temari at most 6 months more to live if the poison was not removed soon.

"Whats.. whats wrong with her?" Naruto asked haltingly.

"She was hit by a poisoned dart, a poison no one is able to eradicate from her system." Gaara replied as he stroked Temari's hand softly.

"Poison?"

Hearing the excitement in his voice, Gaara turned and nodded.

"Poison I can remove." Naruto said with a smile.

"But I thought you said you don't know any healing." Kankuro asked suspiciously.

"We don't. We can't heal any damage to her body, but we can destroy the poison." Akira replied with a grin.

The two quickly moved to either side of Temari's bed. A blue glow filled their hands and slowly spread across Temari's body.

"Have your best healers come up here quickly" Naruto said softly.

"I can see the poison." Akira said as he directed Naruto's energy towards it. Once they had completely identified the poison, the energy changed from a soft blue to an angry cobalt. Cleansing fire swept through Temari's body like wildfire, destroying the poison faster than it could replicate. For fifteen minutes, they kept the fire directed in her body as each and every trace of the poison was obliterated.

"It is done" Naruto wheezed as he sank down on a chair.

Medics rushed in to examine Temari.

"Kazekage sama!" The head medic turned to Gaara. "All the poison has been removed from her body. Now we can easily repair the damages."

Kankuro gave a whoop of joy as he jumped in the air. The expression on Gaara's face changed to one of immense relief while Jiraya had an incredulous look on his face. These two had removed a poison which the world's best medic could not.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Madara" the voice rasped with anger.

Madara quaked as he knelt, beads of perspiration running down his face even though the air in the cavern was very chilly.

"I sensed a power being used, powers used by the followers of those who sealed me."

Madara went cold. Had someone found out?

"Find them Madara, find them and kill them before they interfere."


End file.
